Becoming a Family
by DelFina18
Summary: Zelos has to take care of the two children Ashton and Lilly. However, this is easier said than done and so Zelos asks Sheena to help him. She agrees finally but she has one condition: Zelos has to disappear out of her life after she has helped him.
1. Little angels or devils?

Hello everyone! ^-^

This is the first fanfiction I'm posting here. I hope you'll like it. =)

Enjoy the first chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia and I don't gain money with this fanfiction.

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**Chapter 1: Little angels or devils?  
**

Zelos was hurrying through Mizuho to Sheena's house. Without knocking on the door he opened it. "Sheena, you must help me!"

"What is it this time? Do I have to hide you from your groupies again?" Sheena asked disinterested.

Zelos shook his head. "Please, it's really important! I just don't know what to do!"

"Well … Alright. How can I help you?"

Zelos took her hand. "Thanks, Sheena! You don't know how much you're helping me! We have to get to Meltokio!"

"O-Okay …" Sheena murmured and let Zelos drag her on his Rheaird which brought them to the royal city where Zelos was living.

As soon as they entered his villa they heard someone screaming.

"Help! I can't bear it any longer!"

"Sebastian!" Zelos ran upstairs, taking two steps at once. "I've brought Sheena with me! She'll help us!" He opened the door to his room and entered. Sheena followed him curiously.

When she saw in which situation Sebastian was, she lifted slightly irritated an eyebrow. "And you expect ME to help you with this problem?"

Zelos nodded nervously.

"Heh, why me … And how come you have this problem now?" Sheena asked.

:::

_Zelos walked through the streets of Meltokio to enjoy the good weather. Many people were outside this day and Zelos saw a little family. The father carried a young boy on his shoulders and was buying ice-cream for him right now while the mother held a little baby in her arms and smiled at them._

_Zelos smiled and looked at the little family until they walked away. The former chosen sat on a bench and wondered what it was like to have a family. He never really had one. He had hardly seen his father, his mother had died early and his sister hated him. (At least he believes that.) The only person who really cared for him was his butler, Sebastian. For Zelos, he was more than a servant who could be replaced easily. He was his friend._

_Even though friends could become a second family, it just wasn't the same then having someone around with whom one was linked by blood._

_At this moment Zelos would have done anything to have a family he could spend his time with and not some groupies who couldn't even say one meaningful sentence. The only reason why he didn't send them away, was probably that he was looking for something that could fill that emptiness inside of him. He didn't knew what it was but now it came to his mind that he was searching for the feeling of security a family delivered._

_Now that Zelos knew what he was looking for he wanted to do something to find it. Maybe he could take in his sister Seles but … he doubted that she really would be a family for him. She hated him and she probably would only laugh at him if he told her that he wanted to have a family._

_The second option he had was to start a family himself. Everyone presumably would have laughed at him if they were able to read his thoughts. The big heartbreaker Zelos Wilder was thinking to settle down and become a father. Absurd. Most people would have thought that but Zelos no longer wanted to feel that emptiness … And the thought of a small baby hand that clasped his forefinger let his heart grow warm …_

_But he couldn't start a family on his own. He needed a woman. However, none of his groupies came into consideration for that. He wanted someone with whom he could have an interesting conversation, someone who didn't saw him as the former chosen but as the person he was._

_He could only think of one woman with whom he could imagine such a future: Sheena Fujibayashi._

_However, like Seles she didn't really cared about him. For years now Zelos had tried to win her heart – not because he wanted to start a family with her right from the beginning but because it drove him mad that there was one woman who didn't give in to his charm – but she was a real challenge. The more Zelos flirted with her the more he drove her away._

_Maybe he just needed to show her that he wasn't only the Casanova everyone saw in him but also a responsible and empathetic person._

_Zelos sighed. It didn't make sense to think about now anyway. He would see what the future held ready for him._

_He walked away to his mansion. _

"_Sir, you have a visitor," Sebastian announced. "She's in the dining room and waiting for you, milord."_

"_She? Is it again some constantly giggling groupie who only talks rubbish?" Zelos asked sighing._

"_Hey, hey, don't associate me with those overly rouged screaming girls that surround you normally," someone said behind him._

_Zelos turned around and flinched. "Sh-Sheila!"_

_Sheila gave him a slap on the back of his head. "It's been a while, Zelos."_

_The red-haired man rubbed his head. „But you're still as violent as before …" He received another slap._

_"__And you still don't know when it is the best moment to hold your tongue," Sheila said grinning._

"_What are you doing here?" Zelos asked confused._

_Sheila sighed. "I don't really want to do this but … I have a favor to ask of you."_

"_YOU want ME to help you? When's the world going to perish?" Zelos asked jokingly. This time he received a kick in the stomach._

"_Don't pretend that it's totally unthinkable that your cousin asks for your help!" Sheila responded visibly annoyed._

_Zelos rubbed his stomach with a pained face. "But it is unusual … What do I have to do?"_

_Sheila went to the dining room and signified him to follow her. Zelos saw a little boy who couldn't be much older than three or four years and was playing with some building bricks, and a sleeping baby in a buggy._

_Zelos looked at Sheila confusedly._

"_I have to do a journey because of commercial circumstances and can't take them along. I'm a single mother, my parents died a long time ago, my neighbor is too old, my friends too busy with their one children, the children's home overcrowded and everyone else I asked doesn't have time either, so … it's only you I can ask," Sheila explained._

_Zelos looked behind him, then pointed with a finger at himself as he couldn't see anyone else and then asked: "ME?"_

_Sheila sighed. "Please, I don't have anyone else …"_

_Zelos looked at her with big eyes. "Impossible! I don't have anything against children but I'm totally inexperienced …"_

_Sheila put her hand on her forehead. "I never would have thought I actually would sink so deep but … I guess I have no other choice …" She fell on her knees, folded her hands and looked at Zelos with puppy dog eyes. "Please, Zelos, I'm begging you!"_

_Zelos scratched his head and watched the children for a while. The boy was playing cheerfully with the building bricks and was happy when he managed to build a tower that didn't break down. On the contrary, the baby opened its eyes dozily and looked curiously at the surrounding._

_It couldn't be too difficult to watch over the two of them. Besides, he wanted to have children a few minutes ago; now he had the chance to practice it a little bit._

"_For how long?" he finally asked._

_Sheila blinked. "You mean you'll actually do it?"_

_Zelos nodded whereupon Sheila happily flung her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, thank you, Zelos, you saved my life! I would be grateful to you if you could watch over them for a week. After that you'll never see me again, promised."_

"_Okay …" Zelos said. "What are their names?"_

"_Ashton and Lilly. They're little angels, they won't make you any trouble, you can be sure of that."_

_The boy named Ashton smiled at Zelos, just like he wanted to support the words his mother had said._

"_Okay, it'll be a piece of cake," Zelos stated self-confidently._

"_Thank you, Zelos!" Sheila replied relieved and then went to her children. "Ashton, don't make any trouble as long as you're staying with uncle Zelos, understood?"_

_The boy nodded. "I will, Mommy."_

"_And look after your little sister." Sheila gave each of her two children a kiss on the forehead and then turned around to Zelos. Her eyes were watery but she seemed determined. "I have to go now, Zelos." Suddenly she was very serious. "Please take good care of them, Zelos … They … are more important than my own life."_

_Zelos nodded and he and Ashton accompanied her to the door where they stopped and waved at her until she couldn't be seen anymore._

_Nodding thoughtfully Zelos said: "Well, kid. What do we want to –" Puzzled he discovered that the boy no longer stood beside him._

_A few seconds later he heard something crashing and he instantly ran into the living-room where he could only find a few broken fragments of a very expensive and ancient vase. If Raine had seen this she would've been outraged but he wasn't Raine and the vase never meant anything to him. He just worried about what the boy would do to the rest of his furniture._

_The description 'little angel' definitely didn't fit to the boy, he was more of a 'little devil'._

_As if the situation couldn't be any worse Lilly now started crying and Zelos had to decide if he tried to soothe her or if he followed the noise the boy was making to prevent him from breaking more objects._

'A piece of cake, huh? What was I thinking when I agreed to watch over this cheeky rascal and his crying sister? I must have been totally nuts!' _Zelos thought while he first ran into the dining room and picked Lilly up, only to run upstairs afterwards to search for Ashton._

_When he reached his room he had problems recognizing it at first. His clothing lay scattered on the ground, the walls were smeared, different picture frames broken and the presents of his groupies had been thrown into every possible direction. Well, the latter didn't really matter but Zelos couldn't allow for the little rascal to walk all over him._

_However, he needed help … He couldn't possibly handle the two children on his own and Sebastian wouldn't be much of a help either. His other servants were on vacation and he didn't want to ruin it for them, so he had to find someone else._

"_Sebastian! Could you shortly keep an eye on the children? I'll be back in a minute!" Zelos shouted and after the puzzled butler had come he gave him the crying Lilly, rushed outside the door and left the helpless butler with the two children behind._

:::_  
_

"Well … And then I came to you as quick as possible to ask you for help …" Zelos explained.

Sheena watched the little boy who was sitting on Sebastian's back and pulled on his hair, and the baby which was sleeping calmly on Zelos' bed right now.

"Why are you asking me of all people? Why not … Raine? She should be a lot more experienced with children as she raised Genis all on her own," Sheena pointed out.

"Who the hell knows where Raine and Genis are right now! The same goes for Lloyd and Colette and Regal and Presea have enough to do with the rebuilding of Ozette … So, there was just you …"

Sheena folded her arms. "Ah, so I'm not busy or what? I'm merely the chief of Mizuho who doesn't have anything to do besides being bored … Right?"

"No, I'm sure you're busy, too but … Please, Sheena! I need your help!" Zelos begged.

"Why don't you ask one of your groupies?" Sheena asked cold-heartedly.

"They are even much more inexperienced with children than the both of us together! They don't even know how to get children!" Zelos replied.

"You know what, Zelos? Regarding this point I think you're right. However, I still fail to see why I should help you."

"Please, Sheena! I'll do anything you say!" Zelos looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "If you're not doing it for me then at least do it for Sebastian or for the children or for whomever you want to do this!"

Sheena glanced at Zelos, Sebastian, Ashton and Lilly and then sighed. "Very well."

"Thanks, Sheena!" Zelos wanted to hug her but she stopped him from doing so.

"Under one condition! After this week's over you leave me alone and … disappear out of my life."

* * *

How will Zelos react? Will he agree to fulfill Sheena's condition?

To be continued ...

Please note that English is not my mother tongue, so probably I made quite a few mistakes while translating. I hope you like the story anyway. I don't know when I will upload the next chapter because it takes quite a while to translate but I will try to update every week. =)


	2. An exhausting week begins

Hi there! I managed to translate the second chapter by now. I hope you'll like it. ^-^

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**Chapter 2: An exhausting week begins  
**

"_Under one condition! After this week's over you leave me alone and … disappear out of my life."_

Zelos had to think about these words while he bought diapers, baby food and other things for the two children. Sheena asked him to take care about this because Sheila left nothing of these things with him. And so Zelos walked apathetically from one store to the next while Sheena kept watch over the children.

Of course he didn't like Sheena's condition at all and he had thought about trying to watch over the children without Sheena's help but he knew that he wouldn't manage it without her. However, the price he had to pay was too high … How should he keep on living without being able to see Sheena? He could jump from the Great Tethe'alla Bridge just as well. At least he wouldn't have to worry about noisy children anymore, Seles and Sheena would be happy, his groupies could look for another hobby and he wouldn't have to feel this emptiness anymore.

Zelos sighed. The thought of ending it all was really tempting … But only a fool would've done it. Someone who didn't have any hope and wasn't strong enough to hope for anything anymore.

Zelos still had hope. Maybe he managed within the week to change Sheena's mind and if not … Well, the bridge wouldn't disappear. Sighing he entered his mansion and saw Sheena sitting on the couch while reading a book.

"Ah, you're back. The children are sleeping, Sebastian's making lunch and refused my help politely but determined. Did you get everything?" Sheena asked without looking up from the book.

"Yeah … How did you manage to get the children to sleep? I mean, it's no wonder that the baby's sleeping but the boy …"

"Well, I just said to him that he should take a little nap and then he obediently went to bed," Sheena replied.

Zelos gaped at her unbelievingly. "Are you kidding? The little rascal did what you said?"

Sheena closed the book and glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes."

Zelos kept on staring at her like she was a being from another world but then he remembered the bags he still had in his hands and put them on the ground. Now there was no doubt any longer that he couldn't do without Sheena's help. If she had the little rascal under control maybe this week wouldn't be so difficult as he imagined. In secret he had worried about Sheena going home after a while because Ashton was too hard to handle – which would've meant that Zelos probably didn't have to fulfill her condition – but it didn't seemed that way.

In the meantime, Sheena looked through the bags and nodded satisfied.

"I'll fly back to Mizuho again. If I have to stay overnight I need some things after all," she said.

"You … want to stay overnight?" Zelos asked happily.

"I don't _want_ to. However, do you think you could handle the children in the night? Lilly won't let you sleep all night."

Zelos shook his head. „No … I think I wouldn't know what I should do if she started crying … Besides, I probably wouldn't even stand up …"

Sheena nodded. „Thought so." She left the house while Zelos put away the things he had bought.

At lunchtime Sheena was back again. She woke Ashton and brought Lilly into the kitchen so that she could immediately take care of her as soon as she started crying.

Sebastian had cooked spaghetti because he was sure that Ashton liked this food. At least in this regard the boy seemed like a normal child. He even behaved during lunch what calmed Zelos down.

After lunch Sebastian arranged Sheena's room, Sheena fed the little Lilly who woke up a while ago and Ashton once more played with the building bricks. Maybe this boy wasn't so bad after all. At least he behaved at the moment so that Zelos could calmly sit on the couch and look through his mail.

Most of it was fan mail which he threw away unopened. Zelos knew this sort of letter by heart by now. Most times there was something written like: "Hi, chosen! I am XY and I adore you so much! I know that many girls do that but you can believe me that I'm much more better than the other ones! My father owns this and that territory and sometime I will inherit a big castle from my grandfather. I have a lot of gald and I'm a distant relative of the princess. So please marry me! In love, your XY."

It was incredible how many girls in this city were convinced that they were distant relatives of the princess.

Among all the mail Zelos also found some other letters – bills. Great, either the people wanted his love or his gald. Couldn't there be also someone who wrote him a nice letter in which they wanted to if he was fine? Well, it didn't surprise Zelos that he never received such letters. After all people knew him mostly as the chosen, the majority of Meltokio's population didn't even know his name. How it was outside of Meltokio Zelos didn't even want to know.

He would have gladly thrown away the bills as well but it was pointless – Sebastian always got them anyway.

So he put the bills on the side so that his butler could take care of it later. After he sorted out most of his mail a letter with the royal seal caught his eyes.

Zelos raised an eyebrow. Great, what did the old geezer want this time? He opened the letter, read it and then threw it away while sighing. The annual ball was to take place in his mansion, nothing unusu –

Zelos' eyes widened. A ball? Now that the little rascal and his sister were here? Under no circumstances! What would the people think of him if he had children in the house? On the contrary … he didn't really care about what other people thought … But still! If this boy caused such a chaos like he did a few hours ago his good reputation was gone for good!

'_Good reputation? What good reputation?'_ a voice inside of him asked. _'You only have the reputation of a Casanova but that doesn't anything to do, does it?'_

The voice had a point there but … He couldn't make a fool of himself in front of everyone by letting the little rascal do what he wanted!

Zelos came to a decision. He would go to the king the next day and ask him to arrange the ball in another mansion. If he wanted to know why, then Zelos would answer that … his house was full of cockroaches. Perfect plan. Couldn't fail.

The next moment Ashton twitched his sleeve. Zelos glanced at the boy.

"Where's the bathroom? I have to wee!" Ashton explained whereupon he looked so sweet that Zelos had to ask himself seriously if the boy maybe wasn't so bad after all.

"Upstairs, at the right back," Zelos answered and the boy went quickly upstairs.

In the meantime, Sheena was finished feeding Lilly and was now playing a little bit with the baby. She lifted Lilly a few times which she seemed to enjoy because she laughed.

"And uuuuup!" Sheena said while lifting Lilly again.

Zelos watched her fascinated. Even if she said that she didn't have any experience with children she got along with Ashton and Lilly very well. It were probably some motherly instincts that every woman had.

"Hmm … I think you'll be a good mother …" Zelos murmured more to himself.

"W-What?" Sheena asked who apparently had heard him.

"Err …" Zelos wasn't sure if he should repeat his muttering or if he shouldn't. After all he didn't know how she would react to this and he didn't want to say something wrong. But then he thought that actually it was a compliment, so why should she be mad at him? "You'll be certainly a good mother once you have children."

"I … T-Thanks …" Sheena muttered and then attended to Lilly with a slightly red face.

Zelos grinned. Incredible, did he made Sheena blush right now? That almost called for a diary entry! Maybe it wasn't too bad that Sheila left him with her children … Maybe that helped him and Sheena to get closer to each other. No, it had to be so. Because if not Zelos would never see Sheena ever again. He wouldn't be able to endure something like that.

The rest of the day they didn't do very much. They played a few card games together with Sebastian and then it was already evening and they all went to bed.

However, as Zelos entered his room half asleep he suddenly tripped. He wanted to get up but he got entangled in some strings.

'_Ashton_,_'_ Zelos thought grimly. The boy really was a little devil after all. A devil looking like an angel.

And he, Zelos Wilder, had really thought for a short time the boy wasn't too bad. He should've trusted his intuition. In the future he would be definitely careful with the little rascal around.

Desperately Zelos tried to free himself from the strings and get up and by doing so he knocked over some vases and picture frames – which had been rearranged by Sebastian after all the chaos Ashton had caused earlier – and got even more entangled in the strings then before.

Zelos sighed and hopped towards the bed. It seemed like he had no other choice than sleeping like this. He was too tired to fight against the strings any longer.

Limited in his mobility Zelos finally fell asleep and dreamed of little boys destroying his furniture, painting on his walls and finally setting his mansion on fire.

After a while he awoke and turned around hoping that he wouldn't have such nightmares anymore but all hope was in vain. He dreamed such things the whole night.

When he woke again he decided to stay awake and tried once more to free himself but it was unsuccessful. He even got the feeling that the more he fought against the strings the more they entwined around him.

Only a scissor would be of any help how it seemed … He didn't have one near him, however, so Sebastian would have to help him the next morning.

Zelos sighed. It seemed like this was the beginning of an exhausting week …

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Will Zelos somehow manage to get rid of the strings? Will Ashton play some more tricks on Zelos? What will happen the next days?

To be continued ...


	3. Hopping through Meltokio

So, finally here's the next chapter. It really takes its time ... *sigh*

I hope you enjoy this chapter. ^^

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**Chapter 3: Hopping through Meltokio  
**

After all, Zelos had finally fallen into a dreamless sleep. Well, dreamless wasn't the right word, rather a sleep without nightmares. Because he liked the dream he had right now very much.

He and Sheena had a romantic candle-light-dinner at the beach where the sun was bathing everything in a orange-red light. After they had finished eating, he took Sheena's hand and went on a little walk with her. Finally he stopped, dug something outside of his bag – it was a small black box which could actually only contain one object – and smiled at Sheena.

"Sheena …" Zelos murmured in his sleep like he wanted to start his proposal. He turned around on the other side and fell painfully out of his bed, so the nice dream abruptly ended.

Cursing Zelos rubbed his head as good as possible – the strings still limited his mobility – and then looked on his alarm clock only to realize that it was already past midday.

That meant that Sebastian had already been in his room! Why the hell hadn't he helped him out of this awkward situation?

Since Zelos wanted to have an answer he cried for his butler but nothing happened. Absolute silence. Just the fly flying in his room was humming, then placing itself on Zelos' nose which was apparently so comfortable that it didn't want to leave anymore. Zelos desperately tried to scare the fly away but his hand didn't reach his nose and every attempt to get rid of it by shaking his head failed.

"SEBASTIAN!" Zelos shouted loudly but still nobody came. "Can't believe this … That's really …" Mumbling the whole time Zelos got up from the ground – he didn't know how he had managed it, he was pretty proud of himself though – and then hopped to the door of his room.

There the next problem appeared. How the hell should one open the door when the one hand was tied on the ear and the other one was sticking on the thigh? Correct, with full dedication of the body!

Zelos bent down a little bit and then tried to open the door by putting his chin on the doorknob. Surprisingly it worked, the door opened, level one completed.

Going on to the next level: the stairs. Okay, no problem, indeed his legs were bound together so that he couldn't really move but of course he could overcome this obstacle easily. After all he always had won the sack races as a child. Though this time there was no sack, nothing he could hold on to and he had to jump down the stairs which looked pretty dangerous under these circumstances …

But hey, that was nothing the Great Zelos couldn't manage! At least he tried to convince himself of this.

Well, what sense did it make to create a list with arguments why one shouldn't jump down the stairs with both legs bound together while literally the hands were tied? The stairs wouldn't disappear because of this, the strings would still tie him and the fly would still make itself comfortable on his nose.

Zelos took a deep breath and then began bravely to jump down the stairs carefully. Well, it wasn't so difficult as he had thought. It would be only a problem if he slipped because then he would probably break all possible bones of which he presumably didn't even know the half.

There were only three more steps left as he suddenly slipped after all. But it wasn't too bad. Although the impact caused the air to escape from his lungs, his back hurt and he would probably have some bruises he could breathe normally again which meant that no rips were broken. Besides, the pain faded away after a while.

And now he had overcome this obstacle and was finally downstairs. The fly survived by the way as well, though Zelos wasn't really happy about this. While searching for his butler, Sheena, Ashton, to be precisely a human soul, he hopped through the whole house but didn't find anybody. And if this wasn't bad enough already he didn't even find the only scissors in the house as well …

This was really suspicious and he got the feeling that Ashton had something to do with this. It wouldn't have been too unlikely after all. However, this didn't explain the disappearing of all people of his mansion.

What other choice was left than to look if they were outside? Though he didn't really want to go outside in his embarrassing state … But he also didn't want to wait until his butler and Sheena came back because who knew when that would be?

So Zelos left his mansion, hopped through half of Meltokio and ignored the amused glances the people gave him. Eventually he came to a playground where he finally found Sheena, Sebastian and the children.

Ashton was smirking widely as he saw Zelos; Sheena and Zelos had trouble to restrain their laughter and even Lilly seemed to laugh at him.

"What did you do?" Sheena asked after a while.

"This little rascal set a snare for me!" Zelos answered angrily and nodded with his head towards Ashton because he still couldn't really use his hands.

"Don't blame him for your clumsiness." Sheena looked at him reprehensively.

"But he tightened the strings in such a way that I had to entangle myself in them!" Zelos protested.

"How do you want to know that it was Ashton? It could have been anyone who wanted revenge on you and sneaked into the mansion," Sheena retorted.

Ashton put on the most authentic innocent look he could present and nodded.

Zelos boiled with rage and would have gladly chased Ashton to hell where he belonged to after all. But he knew that Sheena wouldn't have approved of that and what he couldn't need right now was a fresh bump on his head.

"Argh!" Zelos shouted. "Sebastian, why didn't you free me from this strings? You must've been in my room earlier!"

The butler shook his head. "I thought I'll let you sleep late today, Sir. You looked so exhausted yesterday evening."

Zelos couldn't believe it. All the years Sebastian had worked for him he never had granted him to sleep late and just today where he would've approved of his butler waking him, he decided to let him sleep!

Either this was irony of fate or something was fishy here. Zelos glanced at Ashton surreptitiously but he didn't give a sign if he had something to do with the unusual decision of his butler.

"Could someone then at least help me to get rid of these strings?" Zelos asked almost hysterical.

"Why? It suits you!" Sheena laughed. "Besides, you then keep your hands on you."

"Sheenaaaaaaaa!" Zelos exclaimed tormented while he jumped up and down. "I want to move normally again!"

"Okay, okay," Sheena sighed. "Does one of you have something sharp?"

Ashton and Sebastian shook their heads.

"Well, then it seems I have no other choice. Efreet, Undine or Sylph?" the black haired asked while looking at Zelos.

"Err … What?" Zelos was perplexed. What was the meaning of this? Some sort of test or what? Yeah, probably she wanted to see if he would decide on a female summon spirit or not … And if he did she presumably would say something like 'You merely want to flirt with her' or something like that … Well, if that was it … "Efreet."

Sheena nodded. "I call upon the Red Giant, the Ruler of Hellfire! Come! Efreet!"

The summon spirit of fire appeared and waited for his task.

"Set Zelos' strings on fire," Sheena said.

Efreet nodded and flipped with his fingers whereupon the strings went up in flames and fell down to the ground. Efreet disappeared the next moment.

Zelos stretched with pleasure. It was a good feeling to be able to move normally again. Then he suddenly paused. "Say … Do the strings smell so burned or what is it?"

"Well, no, some strands of your hair were accidently set on fire," Sheena responded calmly.

Zelos nodded understandingly. "If it's nothing el … WHAT? My hair, my beautiful trimmed hair!" Zelos dipped his head into a fountain until he was sure that the flames were extinguished.

Sheena was laughing loudly, Ashton had a wide grin on his face – of course he had to be amused by this – and Sebastian was trying forcefully to restrain his laughter which was obviously difficult.

Zelos looked at the three angrily. He was fed up, he needed his privacy now. So he walked away in a bad mood to search for a quiet place where nobody set a snare for him, set his hair on fire or laughed at him.

"Zelos, don't be huffy!" Sheena exclaimed and followed him. "It just was fun!"

Zelos turned around enraged. "Do you think it's funny if you can't sleep half of the night because you're tied up with strings, if you almost break all of your bones because you try to jump down stairs in this state, if you have to hop like an idiot through half of Meltokio just to find the people that should be in your house, if your hair is set on fire and everyone is laughing at you? Congratulations if you have such a sense of humor, I definitely don't have it!" Zelos turned around, walked away and left the perplexed Sheena behind.

* * *

What will happen next? Will Sheena follow Zelos and apologize? Will Zelos still be mad?

To be continued ...


	4. Philosophical gibberish

Hello everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to translate the next chapter ... But here it is. ^^

To silent romantic: Thank you for you're review, I was really happy =) I'm glad that you like this story.

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**Chapter 4: Philosophical gibberish  
**

Sheena was wondering if she maybe really overdid it. Probably Zelos indeed hadn't had a good night.

Of course she knew that it presumably really was Ashton who had tightened the strings in Zelos' room but he still was a child and children sometimes did play tricks. However, she shouldn't have teased Zelos as well …

Couldn't she be nice to him just once? After all he seemed to pull himself together and didn't play the whole time Casanova; so it shouldn't have been too much for her to be friendly to him, should it?

She only would see him for a week anyway, then he would disappear out of her life. So she could pull herself together for this time and treat him a little bit better.

Determined to apologize to him for her behavior, she began looking for him. But unfortunately she had no clue where he could be. Maybe it was the best idea to ask Sebastian where Zelos usually went when he was angry or huffy.

So she went back to the playground where Sebastian was right now packing everything to go back to the mansion.

"Sebastian, where does Zelos usually go to when he's angry?" she asked the butler.

"To the sewer. No place for a nobleman but he's somehow taken with it," Sebastian answered.

Sheena nodded and thanked him. She knew where the sewer was.

As she got to the sewer she watched Zelos throwing little stones into the dirty water which was flowing into the canalization. He didn't seem to have noticed her, so she got his attention by clearing her throat.

Zelos looked at her briefly and then he turned away as he recognized her.

"Zelos, I'm sorry. I overdid it …" Sheena apologized.

But Zelos didn't react. He was just gazing at the water. He even stopped throwing stones into the sewer.

"At least say something!" Sheena demanded slightly angered.

"Do you think there is an afterlife?"

Sheena blinked confusedly. "What?" What was that question supposed to mean?

"And if it exists … What does it look like? Is it comparable to the first life? Does one experience the same situations again? Does one even meet the same people?" Zelos asked without looking at her.

"I-I don't know …" Sheena answered. Why did he ask such strange questions? Couldn't he just be mad? She could have handled that better.

Zelos sighed. "Sometimes I wish I could look into the future …"

"I think that everyone has this wish sometimes. It's good however that we can't. Some people would get too self-confident – or too pessimistic. Either way no one would behave the way he normally would have if he hadn't seen the future; therefore the things the person had seen wouldn't come true," Sheena said. If he had to come with philosophical questions, no problem. Then she would philosophize herself.

"That's not true. No matter what one sees, one would always act in such a way that the foreseen would come true. It's fate …" Zelos protested thoughtfully.

"Fate? In my opinion this word only exists, so that certain people can claim they couldn't have acted differently in some situations. Fate does only exist for cowards who can't stick by their actions and decisions. In contrast it takes a lot more courage to accept that one could have acted differently if wanted," Sheena responded. Why did she even talk about something like that with Zelos? Did he actually forgive her or not? The guy was strange today. Maybe that wasn't the real Zelos in front of her …

"Free will is an illusion, Sheena. We're puppets and whoever has the power of us plays a pretty crazy game with us. We're like chessmen on a chess board; we're moved how the player wants it. We have no power at all. Our fate is determined from the beginning. Our status, our race, everything we experience in our lives … Let's take us as an example. I'm the chosen of Tethe'alla. I always have been and I always will be. It was clear from the beginning that this will be my role. Your fate is it to be a summoner and make pacts with the summon spirits."

Sheena raised an eyebrow. What has gotten into Zelos? Why did he talk such rubbish? "Zelos, what the hell are you talking about?"

But the red haired didn't pay attention to her. "Don't they say life's a game? And indeed, it is! But we can't control it, we're not the players, we're the figures … We have no free will … But what if we're disappearing out of the game? Do we then get into another game where we have to obey the rules as well? Can't we never be free? But what does freedom actually mean? Does true freedom even exist?"

"Zelos, are you sure you're fine?" Sheena asked worriedly while testing his temperature by putting her hand on his forehead. Like she suspected he had a fever. That explained many things.

"Sheena … Why does fate do this to me? Why does the person I love the most hate me so much?"

Sheena thought he was talking about one of his groupies. "What do I know? You should go to bed, Zelos. You're sick."

"Sheena … Why? Why do you hate me so much although I love you so much?" Zelos hugged her.

Sheena was suddenly paralyzed. Did he confess his feelings for her right now?

Zelos put his hands on the sides of her face and looked deeply into her eyes. The next moment he kissed her.

If it had been possible for Sheena she would have tensed even more as stunned as she was. But she had turned into a pillar of salt anyway and didn't know what to do. It was quite strange she thought because normally she just would've pushed him back and that would've been it. But now Sheena was too surprised to do anything at all and a part of her even seemed to enjoy the whole thing. She was so confused she didn't even know anymore where up and down was.

Suddenly she felt how she relaxed. She closed her eyes and wanted to respond to Zelos' kiss – if wanted or not she didn't know at that moment – as Zelos suddenly drew back.

"I'm sorry, I … I just thought … I just wanted to have kissed you once before I never see you again …" Zelos murmured. Then he turned around. "I better go back to the mansion. I can't let Sebastian be alone with the little rascal for such a long time." The next moment he had disappeared and Sheena was standing alone at the sewer.

Confused, she leaned against the wall that was luckily behind her and slid it down slowly until she was sitting on the ground.

What the hell was going on? What had gotten into Zelos? Was everything because of the fever or did he mean what he had said? And even if he had been serious what did it matter to her? She never wanted to see him again, she … well, she didn't hate him but … he was so annoying. His whole attitude pissed her of. How he thought he was irresistible and flirted with every female creature that ran into him, how he whined the whole time when he was in an uncomfortable and exhausting situation …

But what upset her the most was that she couldn't hate him in spite of everything. She just couldn't … Apart from that he had behaved differently the last days. More responsible and grown … Though he did act like a little child when Ashton was around he at least hadn't flirted with other women since she was here. Maybe his confession wasn't just thin air …

Sheena sighed. What was wrong with her? What did it matter to her if Zelos loved her or not? He wasn't more to her than … well, in some way a friend … And after this week she wouldn't see him ever again … Probably … If he really stuck to the bargain. However, she didn't really doubt that.

By now she found it more likely that _she_ would want to see him again after the week was over. And if she thought about it … Why not? Her condition maybe was too hard and by now she wondered how she got the idea in the first place.

Zelos could be annoying sometimes but he wasn't the only one. And she didn't had set the other nags conditions.

So this would have been a reason to change her condition. On the other hand … Zelos then maybe wouldn't try so hard to prove her his love – if the whole thing wasn't because of the fever.

But why did she even wanted him to prove her that he loved her? It wouldn't change her feelings for him – non-existent feelings better said.

Sheena shook her head. It was incredible how such a little kiss could confuse her this much! It was nothing, it meant nothing, so she should stop thinking about it. And she wouldn't change her condition either. She would go through with it now.

She stood up. It was time for her to go back to Zelos' mansion. However, the thought of having to see Zelos in a few minutes again made her stop. How should she act in his presence? She couldn't act the way she normally would. And he would act probably act differently as well … Maybe she should try to go out of his way. It would be better for him to stay in bed either way and then Sebastian could take care of him. Perfect plan.

While Sheena was walking through the noble neighborhood she wondered why Zelos got a fever in the first place. Did he catch a cold?

Well, it didn't really matter to her anyway. At least she tried to convince herself from that.

* * *

Did Zelos mean what he said? Did he really just catch a cold? Will Sheena really go through with her condition or will she change her mind?

To be continued ...


	5. Sheena's wish

Woah, I don't know what has gotten into me xD I've translated the whole chapter today. ^^ So I hope you'll like it.

To silent romantic: You will learn this chapter how Zelos got sick =) Yeah, I will keep translating, so don't worry ^^

* * *

**Chapter 5: Sheena's wish  
**

Zelos felt somehow weak and he was terribly cold. Jittering, he entered his mansion.

"Sebastian, switch the heater on, I'm cold!" he shouted.

His butler came out of the kitchen. "Sir, it's summer. How can you be cold?"

"As if I knew! Where's the little rascal?" Zelos asked bad-temperedly. He wasn't just cold, he also had a headache.

"He's taking a nap."

"Good," Zelos grumbled. "I'll go see the king; I have to cancel this ball …"

"Very well, Sir."

But Zelos hadn't even reached the door as he felt dizzy and fell to the ground.

"Sir!" Sebastian ran frightened to his master.

The next moment Sheena entered the mansion and saw Zelos lying on the ground.

"He suddenly passed out …" Sebastian explained.

"He has a fever and should be in bed. However, his nose looks strange …" Sheena said.

Zelos' nose was slightly purple and swollen.

"Maybe we should call a doctor?" the butler asked.

Sheena nodded. "I'm getting the doctor from Flanoir. He's expensive but reliable. Besides, Zelos should have enough gald."

Sebastian nodded.

While Sheena was getting the doctor Sebastian brought Zelos to his room.

:::

Meanwhile, Zelos had a good dream. He went on where the dream from the morning had stopped.

Zelos knelt before Sheena and started his proposal. "Sheena, since the moment I saw you for the first time I was under your spell. Maybe you haven't realized it but I always just wanted to get near to you. I flirted with other women to make you jealous but they never meant anything to me. You're the only one who matters to me. I love you, Sheena. Only with you I can imagine a future and that's why I want to ask you if you want to become my wife." He opened the small black box which he was holding in his hands and a silver ring with a little opal shining in different colors appeared.

But before Sheena had the possibility to answer or Zelos could see her reaction the picture changed. It became more unclear; he only blurrily saw a woman with black hair who had turned her back towards him. Apparently it was raining because every step from the woman was accompanied by a splashing noise. She was running. She was tripping a few times but she always caught herself in time and ran further as if the devil himself was after her. But then some people appeared and got in her way. They came from everywhere and finally she was surrounded.

"You can't escape from us," one person said.

"It would be better for you if you just gave it away," another one stated.

"I rather die than tell you anything!" the woman shouted.

The voice sounded familiar. Either way he seemed to know the woman … Black hair … Was is perhaps … Sheena?

"We can grant you this wish. We will find it out either way, even if you don't tell us," one of the men commented. He gave a sign and one of the person walked towards the woman and stabbed her with a sword.

The woman kept calm, pressed her lips together as if she wanted to make sure that she really didn't give away the secret and finally fell to the wet ground where she kept lying motionless.

Disturbed, Zelos tossed and turned. That couldn't have been Sheena! It just couldn't be! He wouldn't allow this!

"Sheena …" he murmured.

:::

Sebastian turned around to his master as he heard Zelos' mumbling but realized that he was still sleeping. He put a wet towel on his forehead and wondered why Sheena wasn't back already.

The next moment the door opened but instead of Sheena and the doctor Ashton entered the room.

"What's with him?" he asked and pointed at Zelos.

"He's ill," Sebastian replied.

Ashton looked at Zelos for a while and then asked anxiously: "Will he die?"

He looked so depressed that it touched Sebastian's heart. He put a hand on the head of the boy and said: "No, certainly not."

But Ashton didn't really seem to notice him anymore; he was lost in his own thoughts. He had witnessed so often the deaths of people around him. His grandmother, his older brother, his father … They all were dead and all died because of a disease.

Even if he didn't like Zelos that much he didn't want him to die. He just wouldn't be able to endure seeing someone dying again.

Lost in his thoughts he sat on the couch which was standing in Zelos' room, put his arms around his legs and stared at Zelos the whole time.

Sebastian looked at the boy with sympathy. Obviously Zelos' state did upset him pretty much. Sebastian sighed and changed the towel on Zelos' forehead.

'_As you can see everyone likes you the one or other way, Sir. So you have to get well soon!'_ the butler thought.

Again the door opened and this time Sheena and the doctor from Flanoir entered.

"Thank Martel!" Sebastian exclaimed relieved.

"I wouldn't be happy, yet! After all I heard from Sheena I have the assumption the chosen one caught something really bad," the doctor said with a serious voice.

"And what?" Sebastian wanted to know. As he saw how pale Sheena was he got quite queasy. Apparently, it really wasn't just a normal disease.

"A pretty dangerous virus whose outcomes aren't really known yet. It's transferred by a fly species which appeared not until recently. That's why this disease got the name 'virus brachycerarum'." (It's latin and means 'virus of flies')

"Then one of this flies was near him?" Ashton asked quietly.

The doctor pointed at Zelos' nose. "As you can see on his nose, yes. The virus isn't really transferred by the closeness of the flies but because of a special secretion it produces. And the fly seems to have done this with the chosen," the doctor explained.

"That doesn't really matter now, does it?" Sheena sounded quite worried. "It's much more important to know if and how we can heal him!"

The doctor sighed. "Well, that's the problem. Up until now no cure is known."

Sheena paled even more, Sebastian had to sit down and Ashton was burying his face.

"W-What's the meaning of this?" Sheena whispered.

The doctor looked at her sadly. "This means how things are now we can't help him. We just can wait and hope that he somehow manages himself to defeat the disease."

Sheena put anxiously her hand over her mouth and before she could do anything against it, tears were running down her face.

'_Zelos … Please, you have to succeed! You mustn't die! I can't … I … You mustn't … Zelos … Please … You … You can't just take the easy way out! You can't just bite the dust only because it gets a little more complicated! Zelos! Don't do this to me!' _Sheena thought desperately.

Inside of her chaos reigned and she couldn't think straightly anymore. Worrying about Zelos was the only thing she could do right now. The whole time she sat at his bed, didn't realize that the others were going, how Sebastian brought her tea for tranquilization, how the doctor advised her to distract herself, how Ashton held her hand … She only could stare at Zelos, sitting next to him on the bed and pray to Martel that Zelos would get well soon.

Even at night she stayed with him, held his hand and dunk the towel on his forehead into cold water.

"Sheena …" Zelos murmured.

"I'm here … I'm here, Zelos," Sheenas whispered with tears in her eyes. She brushed a few strands of hair out of his face.

"Sheena … Don't die …" Zelos muttered with a quiet voice.

"You're the one to talk, Zelos," Sheena sobbed. "You tell me not to die but you're the one who has one foot in the grave …" Big tears were falling on Zelos' face. "Zelos, please get well … That's … That's my only wish … Get well …"

* * *

What's with the strange dream Zelos had? Was it really Sheena? Was it maybe some kind of vision? And what about his disease? Will he somehow manage to defeat him by himself or will they find another way to save his life?

To be continued ...


	6. Terrible nightmare

Yeah, another chapter is finished ^-^

To silent romantic: Thank you ^^ Yeah, Sheena doesn't have it easy ... In this chapter she has to suffer even more ... ^^" Well, we will see how Zelos will react ... But not this chapter xD

* * *

**Chapter 6: Terrible nightmare  
**

While Sheena was sitting at Zelos' bed and wasn't daring to remove herself from Zelos more than three steps, the doctor was going up and down in the living-room. He had racked his brains for hours now if there wasn't a way to help the chosen after all. It just rankled him that there was a disease he couldn't cure. Though it was just a virus! An ordinary, simple virus! Well, unfortunately not so normal he wanted it to be because if it was he wouldn't slowly leave a trail in the expensive carpet of the chosen right now.

But it really was infuriatingly. Doctors bragged about having defeated all viruses and then fate threw a new virus into the world which caused the doctors to tear helplessly their hair and shake their heads with resignation.

Still there had been a break through. One time the virus brachycerarum had been cured. Nobody knew how, not even the responsible healer. But maybe she succeeded once more …

In the end, this was the only hope the doctor still had. He stopped and turned around towards the hat stand on which his coat was hanging. This woman was maybe the lifesaver the chosen and everyone else was hoping for, so he would search for her.

However, before he left he let the butler know, who was still scurrying busily through the house, that he was leaving.

:::

Meanwhile, Sheena had fallen asleep and so she was sitting sleeping on the chair next to Zelos' bed.

Unfortunately she didn't sleep as good as she would have wanted to because a terrible nightmare haunted her.

The starting point of the dream was the current situation of the reality. She was sitting next to Zelos' bed and was keeping watch over her ill friend who wasn't getting any better. But then someone – she couldn't identify the person because a blurry haze blocked her view as soon as she saw in that direction – came into the room and hustled her into going for a walk so that she could distract herself a little bit.

After some hesitating and further hustling of the person Sheena stood up and left the room. She walked through the streets of Meltokio but was thinking all the time of Zelos. As she finally went back to the mansion she knew immediately that something was different.

She was rushing into Zelos' room and saw him lying in bed as she remembered – only that a dark red puddle of blood was surrounding him.

A knife was tucked into his chest; the red blood was staining his white shirt, running down his body, dripping on the ground.

Zelos' eyes were open, staring stiffly and broken to the ceiling. His face was expressing surprise and horror at the same time.

The dark blood which had probably landed on his face during the stabbing made his skin look even paler.

Sheena was standing there petrified; she took the whole scene in and couldn't do anything else than to memorize every little detail. Only after that she managed to do what everyone else in her situation would have done: to scream.

She didn't want to stop screaming until she felt a hand on her arm and recognized that she was sitting on the chair next to Zelos' bed and Zelos was still alive.

Sebastian looked worriedly at her. "Is everything fine?"

Sheena had to swallow the tears before she could answer with a trembling voice: "Yes … E-Everything's okay …"

She didn't seem to be very convincing because Sebastian explained to her that he would make tea and that he then wanted to hear everything about the nightmare she obviously had had.

Sheena wasn't sure if she wanted to speak about the nightmare and relive it again but Sebastian was out of the room before she could tell him that.

Well, the tea would definitely help. While Sebastian was busy making tea Sheena brushed a few strands of hair out of Zelos' face and noticed almost with relief that he still had a fever. This was at least a sign that he was still alive.

The image of the dead Zelos appeared one more time in front of her eyes and tears began to form in her eyes.

'_It was just a dream! Just a dream that didn't mean anything at all …'_ she thought over and over again but the dream had been so alarmingly real that Sheena was almost certain that it would come true. She started trembling. It couldn't come true. She would never allow for someone to kill Zelos and she wouldn't leave his side until she could be sure that her nightmare wouldn't come true.

If at least she knew who the person had been who had hustled her into going for a walk! She was convinced that it had been Zelos' murderer … It had been definitely an adult, so from all the persons who were in the house right now it could be only one: Sebastian.

But would the loyal butler really kill his master although he seemed to respect him so much? Besides, he seemed to be so nice and friendly …

However, the impression one had of a person could be wrong and some people knew how to protect their dark secrets and build up a totally different personality. So what if Sebastian wasn't the kind and honest butler he pretended to be?

Sheena would keep an eye on him and never let him be alone with Zelos again.

Then it came to her mind that there was one other suspect: the doctor from Flanoir. But Sheena couldn't come up with a reason why he should be trying to kill Zelos. On the contrary, he tried to save Zelos' life.

No, Sheena counted the doctor off for the time being. Her main suspect remained Sebastian.

As if this thought was his cue he came into the room with a tray in his hands which had two cups of tea and a few cookies on it.

"Now tell me about your dream you have had, Miss. It must have been really terrible as much as you screamed," Sebastian said.

Sheena frowned. If she had screamed so much why hadn't Ashton woke up then as well? A horrible thought crossed her mind. Had Sebastian perhaps …?

"Where are Ashton and Lilly?" Sheena asked with a trembling voice.

"They should be sleeping in their room … Although I have to admit that I find it a little bit peculiar that Ashton didn't come here when you screamed. I'll go look after them." Sebastian rose up and was already standing in front of the door as Sheena exclaimed: "No!"

Sebastian stopped puzzled and looked at the young woman with confusion.

Who knew after all what he would do with them if they were still alive! And if they were already dead … Well, then Sebastian could still claim they were fine. Sheena rather would have gone herself to look after the children but then she would have had to leave Zelos alone with Sebastian … Hence with his possible murderer.

But she also couldn't leave the room together with Sebastian because then Zelos would have been alone and somebody else would have had the opportunity to kill him …

Sheena was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. She was so desperate that she didn't know what to do. But then her problem solved itself because Ashton entered the room with Lilly in his arms. Both of them were as fresh as a daisy though Ashton looked a little bit tired and Lilly was crying again.

Sheena hugged them happily and cried at the same time.

Sebastian and Ashton exchanged confused glances and were obviously wondering what was wrong with her.

"Miss, you don't seem to be fine. You should drink the tea, you'll then feel better for sure," Sebastian stated.

Sheena looked at him suspiciously. What if the tea was poisoned and Sebastian just wanted to make sure that there were no witnesses when he murdered Zelos?

But then Sheena shook subtly her head and was angry at herself for being distrustful. Of course it wouldn't hurt to be cautious but she had to stop to see Zelos' possible murderer in every person. It had been just a dream, nothing more.

Sheena took a deep breath, took a mouthful of the hot tea and felt how the liquid warmed her from the inside and calmed her. She took Lilly in her arms, cradled her softly until she stopped crying and then began to talk about her nightmare.

Before she could describe what she had found in Zelos' room she had to drink a whole cup of tea however so that she could go on. She left out not one single detail and this was probably the reason why Sebastian grew more and more pale.

From this moment on Sheena was certain that he would never kill Zelos and that's why she also told him about her suspicions she had had until a moment ago.

"Miss! I would never …! The nightmare must have really gotten to you if …! I swear to you that I would never do the master any harm!" Sebastian replied with widely opened eyes.

"I know that, Sebastian … I'm sorry I suspected you but … this dream was so real and …" Sheena sobbed. "… I don't want to lose Zelos …" She muttered it so quietly that Sebastian hardly understood her.

The butler placed a hand on her shoulder. "You won't, Miss. The master is very strong and he can handle everything, be it a disease or an attempted murder. You have to believe in him."

"I do," Sheena said encouraged.

Sebastian smiled. "The young master will be definitely glad to hear that you worry so much about him."

Sheena was blushing madly but didn't protest. What should she say anyway? She couldn't really deny it.

Suddenly footsteps could be heard. Sheena tensed and snuggled Lilly firmly.

But as the doctor entered she almost burst out laughing because of her relief. However, as he stepped aside to let someone else come into the room Sheena blinked confused.

What were these two doing here?

* * *

Who are the persons that came in with the doctor? Will they be able to save Zelos? Will Sheena's dream come true? Is Sebastian maybe really a murderer? (xD Just kidding, I can promise that he's no murderer xDD)

To be continued ...


	7. The power of the moon

To silent romantic: Well, it would have been really strange of Sebastian was really a murderer xD But I'm glad that the chapter captivated you so much. ^^

Ok, regarding this chapter: I don't know what has gotten into me when I wrote it xD It's really strange and some of the charakters are really acting OOC ... I hope you'll still like it. ^^ Further down some sentences are written in italic (I don't mean the ones relatively at the beginning). Those are descriptions of the nightmare the person has had. (That's the part I don't like anymore to tell you the truth xD)

Well, you'll see. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 7: The power of the moon  
**

"Hello, Sheena," Genis said grinningly.

"Hello …" Sheena answered quietly while looking from the Sage siblings to the doctor.

"If someone can cure the chosen, then Miss Sage," the doctor explained.

Raine sighed. "How often do I have to say you that I indeed know how I cured the last patient with this disease but that I don't have the slightest clue where I should get the ingredient for the healing potion?"

"But you must have gotten the ingredient last time from somewhere as well," the doctor replied with confusion.

"It was suddenly lying next to my stuff, together with this letter," Raine said and gave the doctor a single paper.

After he had read through it he frowned and gave the letter to Sheena.

"_The moonflower is able to cure some diseases. It can be found where the power of the moon is concentrating. Come to this place, Raine, because there is your power hidden."_

Sheena didn't get any smarter after reading the letter as well. "And where is this place?"

"If I knew that I now wouldn't have any troubles to cure Zelos. At the moment I can't do anything more than you already have," Raine answered sadly.

Ashton stretched now to get the letter which Sheena still held in her hands. She gave it to him without giving it a further thought. He couldn't read any of this anyway. At least she thought so.

"Mom once told me that the otherworldly gate opens during full moon. In the process the power of the moon concentrates on the stone pillars and …" Ashton couldn't finish his sentence because Raine suddenly smote her forehead.

"Of course! The boy's right, the otherworldly gate! Why didn't it cross my mind earlier?" Raine asked herself and the next moment she was already out of the door. After a short while they heard a Rheaird starting.

Genis was pondering shortly if he should follow her but then decided against it. Raine would be fine without him.

Meanwhile, Sheena had other worries. Why was Ashton able to read though he seemed not older than four or five years? Actually he often acted much older … "Ashton, how come you can read?" she finally asked.

He shrugged with his shoulders. "Mom taught me."

"Who is this boy anyway and the baby in your arms?" Genis wanted to know.

"These are the children of Zelos' cousin. He's supposed to take care of them for a week and asked for my help," Sheena explained.

Genis nodded. "Uh-huh. And I almost thought you're here because you and Zelos are together or something like that."

Sheena turned around so that the little half elf didn't see how she blushed. "What a nonsense! As if I …" The rest ceased into an incomprehensible muttering.

"I think I should make tea again … Doesn't seem as if one of you can think of sleeping right now," Sebastian commented and immediately the mood changed.

Everyone looked sadly at Zelos who bobbed his head restlessly.

:::

Raine was flying through the darkness of the night and was glad that Yuan had improved the headlamps of the Rheairds not long ago so that they now had a stronger illuminating power. Not to imagine what one could happen if one didn't see a crag in time!

Beneath her the light of Altamira could now be seen. The casino was even open far into the night which was the reason why there was still some buzz of activity in the city – although this time of the night probably only drunkards were still on their shaky feet.

She was flying above the sea – a chill ran down her spine as she grew conscious of the fact that beneath her there was nothing more than water – and could already see the little island with the stone pillars.

She landed and looked around but she saw nothing and nobody. Not the mysterious person who wrote the letter to her nor some of these moonflowers. Wasn't this the place to which she had to come after all? She was disappointed and desperate. How was she now supposed to cure Zelos?

She wanted to go back to her Rheaird as she suddenly heard a voice say: "I almost thought you wouldn't come."

Raine was rooted to the spot. This voice … She didn't manage to turn around and make sure.

She heard how something whooshed through the air – she assumed that the person had sat on one of the stone pillars and had jumped down a moment ago – and landed softly.

"Raine. I'm glad to see that you're fine. I hope the others are fine as well."

"Zelos caught the virus brachycerarum but the others should be fine," Raine answered. She still had her back to the person.

"So you're here to cure Zelos," the person assumed.

"Yes."

She heard the person come closer. "Raine, please turn around. Look at me."

Raine started to tremble. She couldn't! She just couldn't … She was afraid what she would see …

The person put a hand on her shoulder. "Raine …"

She was shrieking and shaking the hand off.

_A pale hand that was touching her …_

"Raine, what's wrong with you?" She heard the confusion in his voice.

He was grabbing her wrist now, probably hoping to be able to turn her around with that.

Raine shrieked even more and wanted to jerk herself free but she was too weak.

_Grimly the pale hand closed around her wrist and didn't let her go, no matter how much she struggled. Slowly she was turned around …_

"No! Let me go! I don't want to!" Raine screamed out of her mind and tears were running down her cheeks. She panicked. There was no escaping, in a few seconds she would face horror …

_His body was covered in blood which made his skin look even paler. More dead than alive he was standing in front of her and stared at her with empty eyes._

"No …" she whispered while remembering the nightmare that was haunting her some time now. Totally exhausted she fell against the chest of the person and was sobbing quietly.

"Shhh. Everything's fine, Raine." The person ran softly his hand over her back and she slowly calmed down again.

Finally she worked up the courage to look at the face of the person. No blood, no pale skin, only the normal face of the swordsman who neither she nor her friends hadn't seen for a few months.

"Kratos …" she murmured.

"Calm down, Raine. Everything's fine. Sit down for a start and wait," Kratos said.

Confused, she sat down on a rock and asked: "For what should I wait?"

Kratos pointed to the sky. "Wait until the moon appears."

Raine frowned but said nothing further.

As finally the clouds cleared away and the full moon cast his light on the little island suddenly everything started glowing.

The glowing of the stone pillars she already knew – although this time no gate to Sylvarant opened – but beside that there was the glowing of the plants which had abruptly appeared out of thin air and opened their calyxes.

"Moonflowers …" Raine whispered.

Kratos nodded. "They can only be found here during a full moon when the island is glowing in its light …"

"Why did you write this strange letter? Why didn't you come yourself the other day? What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be on Derris-Kharlan?" Raine bombarded him with questions.

Kratos sighed. "That's not important. More important is what you can find here besides the moonflowers – or rather what you have to find here."

Raine shook her head with confusion. What was the meaning of this? "What do I have to find here?"

"A stone."

Raine raised an eyebrow. "A stone? Kratos, please, here are many stones!"

"You will recognize it when you see it," Kratos replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, great! What shall I do with this stone anyway?"

"You'll need it someday."

"Can you express yourself at least one time more clearly?" Raine asked upset. His whole behavior was so annoying!

"I'm afraid no. Only you can find this stone, Raine, and only to you it will be useful. For what you can use them … is still written in the stars."

Raine was grumbling. "First of all I will take care of these moonflowers and then it would be more appropriate to fly back as fast as possible to Meltokio instead of searching for a stupid stone in a bunch of stones."

"You can find this stone only today, Raine. And – I don't know if you noticed that – but the night is almost over. The moon will soon disappear," Kratos stated.

"So what if I don't find this stone in time?" Raine asked mindlessly. "Will the world then cease to exist?"

Kratos' face darkened. "Maybe not that … However, dark times would definitely approach us."

"Well, then we'll put up Blue Candles everywhere," Raine joked.

Kratos grabbed her arm. "Raine, I'm serious! Everyone of us plays a part in the prophecy and your part is that of the Moon Healer!"

"Prophecy? Moon Healer? Kratos, what in the name of the holy Martel …"

Kratos let go of her and shook his head. "Gather as many moonflowers as you need and then search for this stone. And please don't ask any questions anymore!"

Raine looked at him angrily and then dedicated herself to the gathering of the flowers. What was the meaning of this? What was this prophecy Kratos was talking about?

Suddenly she thought seeing a glowing which was different. The flowers and the stone pillars were glowing in a green-blue light but the one she saw now was silver. Confused, she stood up, walked towards the glowing and stared at the ground. In front of her a necklace with a leather tape and a silver stone shiver was lying. This was giving off the light.

Maybe this was the stone Kratos was talking about? She kneeled down to pick up the necklace and as her fingers touched the stone shiver the glowing grew stronger until it completely surrounded her.

Multiple images were rushing through her head, so many and with such a speed that she hardly could discern any of them.

When these images came to an end and the glowing grew weaker she fainted.

* * *

Is Raine fine? What were these images she saw? What's the meaning of this prophecy and Raine being the Moon Healer? How did Kratos come back (and why xD)? Will Raine now be able to cure Zelos?

To be continued ...


	8. Many questions, no answers

To silent romantic: Yeah, I think so, too ^^ But unfortunately he won't stay for long ... Because I wanted to prevent that this story turns into a Kraine fic (I'm a total fan of Kraine xD) Well, the prophecy thing is confusing and you will get most answers not until the sequel (a very long sequel xD). I hope you can live with this =) Thank you for your compliment ^-^

To Drew L.: Well ... I don't know anymore why Sheena enacted this condition xD She found Zelos just annoying and wanted to get rid of him ... But in the course of the story she realizes that she doesn't want to be apart from him ^^ Thank you as well. =)

So, here's the next chapter. You have to know that I named the united worlds 'Elaros' because back then I didn't know that it is called Aselia.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Many questions, no answers  
**

Sheena, Sebastian, Genis and the doctor from Flanoir were sitting in Zelos' room and drinking quietly tea. Ashton and Lilly had gone to their room again although Ashton first had refused to go to bed again.

Genis was constantly beating the devil's tattoo on his cup. After a while Sheena was annoyed by the noise and looked at him angrily whereupon Genis stopped his clamorous activity.

But then Sebastian suddenly started tapping his foot nervously while the doctor was slurping his tea loudly. In addition there was the constant ticking of the wall clock which seemed unnaturally loud.

"Ahh! Stop it already! You make me nervous!" Sheena exclaimed irritated.

"Sorry …" all the three murmured.

"I'm worried about Raine," Genis admitted. "She's gone for a while now … The sun's rising soon … And who knows if this guy who wrote the letter didn't want to lure her into a trap?"

"Apart from that time's running out! If the chosen isn't cured until midday then …" The doctor didn't need to finish his sentence.

Sheena stood up and had her hands on her hips. "If you don't have anything to do anyway you can make yourself useful at least! Clean the house or … I don't know, just do something outside of this room! I keep watch over Zelos and if something's wrong I'll call you!"

"But …" Genis objected.

"No but! Now do something!" Sheena said and shoved one after another out of the room. She heard how the three walked away. Sighing, she slid on the ground. She was worried herself pretty much but it didn't help anyone if they all didn't do anything. Zelos wasn't getting any better by this and Raine didn't come back faster either.

"Raine, where are you?" Sheena asked quietly.

:::

"Raine, wake up," a soft voice demanded.

Raine opened her eyes and sat up. Where was she? She looked around confusedly and recognized the stone pillars which weren't glowing anymore because the moon had disappeared. Then she saw Kratos who was kneeling beside her.

"What happened?" she asked still a little bit dazed.

"You found the first moonstone shiver," Kratos answered.

Raine opened her hand and found the necklace with the stone shiver. "What were these images I've seen as I touched the stone?"

Kratos stood up. "I don't know. Maybe it was the future, maybe the past … Maybe images from another world … It's all possible." He hold his hand towards her and helped her to get up.

"It were so many … I couldn't really discern any of them … I remember just one image. Someone died … But I couldn't recognize the person, I hadn't enough time … But somehow … something cried in me as I saw this image … As if the person was important to me …" Raine murmured musingly.

"Heh," Kratos just said. He seemed to be calm about this but in fact he wasn't. _'If she saw the death of one of the Prophecy's Servants then … everything's over before it actually began … Should our future efforts be in vain? But we have no other choice than to do as the prophecy wants … Because otherwise chaos will defintitely reign over Elaros.' _

Only now Kratos realized that Raine apparently had said something because she was waving with her hand in front of his face.

"Hm, what?" he asked.

"I said we should soon head to Meltokio because time's running out! Or don't you want to cure Zelos?"

Kratos didn't give an answer but headed towards the Rheaird.

"Finally!" Raine sighed satisfied and sat down on the Rheaird behind Kratos.

:::

In the meantime, Genis had gotten the task from Sebastian to sweep the floor. He did it only half-heartedly though because he kept worrying all the time about Raine. As he then finally heard the door open he threw the broom away, overheard the indignant murmuring of the doctor who had been hit by the broom, and stormed to the door.

"Raine!" he exclaimed and hugged her tempestuously.

"Err … Did I miss something or why are you crushing me to death in an embrace ad if we hadn't seen each other for a half eternity?" Raine asked with confusion.

"I worried about you!" Genis replied a little bit offended but let go of her.

"Wait, what was it? Didn't you say time's running out?" Kratos asked Raine.

"Oh, yeah!" Raine rushed upstairs whil Genis looked confused at Kratos.

"What are you doing here?" he wanted to know.

"Not important," Kratos answered and now went upstairs as well.

Genis followed him sighing.

Sheena startled as the door to Zelos' room was opened. Just now she realized that she must have fallen asleep.

After Raine and Kratos – Sheena was at this moment to stunned to wonder about anything – Genis, Sebastian and the doctor came in as well.

"I need water, a bowl, a knife and vegetable oil," Raine said now and immediately Sebastian and Genis set off to get the wanted objects.

"Did you get this weird flower, Raine?" Sheena wanted to know, still a little bit tired.

Raine nodded and got one of the flowers out of her pocket. A slight glow was coming from it.

As Raine finally had everything she needed she started making the healing potion whereas the doctor from Flanoir looked with interest over her shoulder every now and then.

"Kratos, was it actually you who wrote this strange letter to Raine?" Genis asked.

Kratos nodded.

"Why? Why didn't you come yourself? You could have at least written where the flowers exactly are," the half-elf stated.

"Raine had to come to the Otherworldly Gate herself. And a little brainteaser won't hurt." Kratos responded.

"Little brainteaser …" Raine murmured quietly. "And what if I hadn't come?"

"You had to come. You had no choice, you had to respond to the call of the prophecy." Kratos answered.

"Again this prophecy …" Raine muttered.

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Sheena asked.

"Not important," Kratos said.

"Damn it, Kratos! You're contradictory! A little while ago you said if I didn't find that moonstone dark times would approach us!" Raine exclaimed pretty upset and stopped her doing. "So the prophecy seems to be very important!"

Kratos shook his head. "The prophecy's not important for them right now." He pointed at Sheena and Genis.

"But for me or what?" Raine wanted to know.

Kratos nodded.

"Why?"

The others just looked quietly from Kratos to Raine.

"Because you're the Moon Healer," Kratos replied.

"Argh!" Raine shook her head. "Stop it already!" She dedicated herself again to the making of the healing potion and ignored Kratos.

"Why are you even here, Kratos? Shouldn't you be on Derris-Kharlan?" Sheena wanted to know.

Before Kratos could answer Raine said: "You don't have to ask him that, he'll just respond with 'Not important' anyway!"

"How do you want to know?" Kratos asked.

"Because you give this answer all the time!"

"Maybe I now wanted to give an appropriate explanation," Kratos commented.

"Well, I hear." Raine crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow.

The others looked at him expectantly as well.

"I have to perform a task," Kratos stated finally.

"Wow, that's the explanation of the year! That you didn't come back to Elaros to drink tea is obvious!" Raine said sarcastically.

"What do you have to nag about now?" Kratos seemed to be slightly angered.

"That you don't explain anything yourself unless one asks and then doesn't get a satisfying response anyway!" Raine answered upset.

"What's wrong with those two?" Sheena asked Genis quietly.

He shrugged with his shoulders. "Don't know …"

"Then let it be!" Kratos said.

"You know what? I will!"

Kratos left the room and Raine filled the healing potion that was finished by now into a glass and instilled it into Zelos.

"When will he be well again?" Sheena asked.

"In about an hour," Raine answered.

Sheena nodded relieved.

* * *

Will Kratos and Raine keep on arguing? Will Zelos wake up? What will happen next?

To be continued ...


	9. The balance of the world

Hey, everyone! I know it's been a long time. xD I just didn't have the time to translate ... I was in Ireland for ten days as well. ^^ It was really nice, I liked it.

But now I hope you enjoy the next chapter! =)

* * *

**Chapter 9: The balance of the world  
**

"Why were you so upset, Raine?" Genis asked when they were outside.

They all agreed upon leaving Zelos alone with Sheena.

"Just because!" Raine replied.

"But Kratos didn't do anything. Well, okay, he didn't tell you what you wanted to know but we're actually used to it already …" Genis stated.

"It's just annoying! First he makes one curious with this prophecy thing and then he won't say anything further!"

Genis looked at her curiously. "Sure there are no other reasons for your conniption?"

"Yes, you're right!" Raine exclaimed. "There are other reasons! I didn't get to sleep for a day, since yesterday morning I hadn't have one cup of coffee, I don't know when I had my last real meal and additionally a Cruxis angel has appeared all of the sudden and maunders something about a prophecy although I have no time for things like that!"

"Calm down, Raine," Genis tried to pacify her. "Think of your blood pressure!"

"Stop talking with me as if I'm an old geezer!" Raine shouted and stormed off.

"She's not a bit temperamental" the doctor said in an ironic voice.

Genis giggled. "Yeah, it's not always easy with her … But today she's still in a relative good mood."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Then I don't want to meet her when she's ill-tempered …"

:::

Raine left the house and strolled through the city. What she needed most right now was privacy and coffee. She could barely stand on her feet because of fatigue but she knew that she still wouldn't be able to sleep because there was too much on her mind.

She entered a little coffee shop and ordered a coffee and a piece of Kirima cake. Musing, she rubbed her temples.

"Do you have problems, young lady?" an older man who was sitting next to her asked.

"It's just a little stressful at the moment …" she answered.

The man nodded. "Yes, the world's changing and everything's more fast-paced nowadays. The word 'tranquility' has almost been buried in oblivion. Oh, if only the world was balanced …"

"What do you mean?" Raine asked with confusion.

"I once have read that once upon a time, when the world was still young, the so-called Nature Spirits wandered upon Elaros. There are four of them, each one has another element. The world equaled paradise because the Nature Spirits brought balance to the world. However, they were banished – I don't know by whom and why – and with this everything changed. Sun, moon and stars lost their original luminousness and Elaros changed as well," the old man explained.

"How did the world change?" Raine wanted to know while sipping the coffee.

The man was quiet for a while. "The world shrunk. Today Elaros is only half as big as it was then. It was never proven, though. However, if you look at maps from four thousand years ago you can see that there were much more countries. But the loss of the Nature Spirits did also have other consequences. Animals turned into monsters and the different races were at war with one another. Chaos was on the verge of reigning over the world. But there existed something that was able to stop chaos."

Raine looked at him curiously. She totally had forgotten about her piece of cake and the coffee got colder with every minute.

"The Holy Child …" The man now frowned as if he was thinking about something. "I wonder where they are right now … Somewhere there must be a place where they're sleeping peacefully, maintaining the last bit of balance of Elaros. In the prophecy it is said that if the Holy Child is awakened the Nature Spirits will be soon be freed as well …" He leaned back and sighed. "But who knows if the prophecy will be ever fulfilled."

"A … prophecy?" Raine murmured. Could that be the prophecy Kratos meant? "Could you tell me …" Raine looked around but the man had disappeared without a trace. "Strange …"

Raine paid and left the coffee shop. Now she urgently wanted to speak with Kratos. She found him near a little fountain. As it seemed he had needed a little privacy as well.

"Kratos," she approached him.

He turned around and gave her a questioning look.

"Tell me something about the Holy Child," she demanded.

"How do you …?" He was apparently confused.

"Let's just say it must've been fate."

Kratos sighed. "Raine, I will explain everything to you on our journey but …"

Now it was Raine who was confused. "Journey? What journey?"

"You found the first moonstone shiver. But there are actually more. You have to search for them," Kratos explained.

Raine sighed. "How did I get into this whole mess? Well, okay, I'll search for these stones but in exchange I want to have a reasonable explanation from you once we're travelling!"

Kratos smiled. "You'll get your explanation."

"I hope so … For your sake," Raine muttered. "It's been an hour. We should return and see how Zelos is doing."

Zelos was better by now. His nose had a normal colour again and wasn't swollen anymore; his fever had dropped as well. He still hadn't woken up though.

"Good," Raine stated. "I think we can go now."

"You want to go already?" Sheena asked a little bit disappointed.

"Yes. After all I have to search for these strange stone shivers and who know how long it'll take …" Raine replied and shot a look to Kratos.

"It mustn't take more than two years," the swordsman said.

"I don't plan to search such a long time for them," Raine commented.

"Well, but it could take so long. After all we don't have any clues where the next shiver is and …"

Raine interrupted Kratos. "Oh no, Kratos, I won't search two years for those stupid shivers! Either I find them within a year or not!"

"That's going to be a challenging journey …" Kratos muttered.

"Did you say something?" Raine asked. She was annoyed again.

"No, nothing."

Genis shook his head and wondered how he was to endure the next time with those two. Because there was one thing he was sure of: This wouldn't be the last quarrel they had. He only wondered why they were arguing of late; in the past they didn't seem to have a problem with one another after all.

'_Adults,'_ he thought.

"I prepared a bag with supplies for you," Sebastian mentioned out of the blue.

"That's very friendly of you" Raine said. Then she turned around towards the doctor. "And you will take care of further cases of the virus brachycerarum?"

The doctor nodded.

"Like I said, the moonflowers can be found during a full moon near the Otherworldly Gate."

"I know."

"Good."

Raine, Kratos and Genis said goodbye to everyone and left the house to start the new journey.

"I have to go now as well," the doctor stated. "I have to make sure the other doctors learn about the moonflowers as well."

After he had left as well Sebastian, Ashton and Sheena, who held Lilly in her arms, sat alone in Zelos' room and waited for him to awake.

Zelos had again the nightmare with the black haired woman who was surrounded by the men and was finally killed.

"SHEENA!" he screamed and straightened up. He panted and looked around. Sebastian, Ashton and Sheena were standing in the room and staring at him. Sheena gave Lilly to Sebastian and rushed to Zelos to hug him.

She was so happy that he had woken up again that it didn't matter to her at all that she was seen hugging Zelos.

"Sheena, what …?" Zelos asked with confusion. How was it possible that Sheena, his beloved, dangerous banshee hugged him? It could only be a dream. A nice one of course but still a dream. Or the world was going under. It wasn't so unlikely; after all Sheila had asked him for help as well which was really almost a miracle.

Sheena released him again and looked at him with shining eyes. "Good that you're with us again, Zelos."

Zelos gazed at the surrounding persons with clear question marks in his face. What had happened that the infamous death-clout-distributer became a tame pussy cat; that his butler, who was always thoughtful about tidiness, was standing with unkempt hair and in non-straightened clothes in front of him; and that even the little rascal who was nothing but trouble was laughing with joy? It was even a honest laugh. The only one behaving like her normal self was Lilly. What a miracle …

The next hour Sebastian, Sheena and Ashton spend with telling Zelos what had happened.

"Argh, that stupid fly! If I get this insect in my hands than …"

"… you'll have to stay in bed because of the virus brachycerarum one more time," Sheena end his sentence.

Zelos sighed. "Sebastian, buy the best insect spray there is. From now on the flies near me have nothing to laugh."

Thereupon everyone was laughing.

"But it's a pity that Raine, Genis and Kratos have left already … They could've at least waited until I'm awake!" Zelos said a little disappointed.

Sheena nodded. "Yes, I think so, too. Well, we'll certainly see them again soon."

But actually a long time was to pass by until they would see their friends again …

* * *

So, Kratos, Raine and Genis are gone ... And they will not appear again until the sequel, I'm sorry. ^^"

Well, Zelos is cured, everything seems to be fine ... What will happen next? It won't get boring, I can promise you that xD

To be continued ...


	10. Shambles in the castle

I'm sorry it took me so long again ... ^^" But I had many things to do for example my oral and last exam. =) Now I'm finished with school and I should have more time until I'm starting to work.

To silent romantic: Yeah, Ireland was really great and I made many pictures. ^^ I wanted to show you some pictures but somehow the link doesn't work ... Maybe because it's a german website?

^^ Well, you will see what I will do now xD

Enjoy the chapter! =)

* * *

**Chapter 10: Shambles in the castle  
**

About midday Zelos felt well enough to stand up. Sheena and Sebastian would have found it better if he had stayed in bed some more time but he had no time for this. He still had to go to the king to cancel the ball.

"I'll go see the king now," Zelos said.

"Zelos, do you really feel good? I don't want you to collapse on the way …" Sheena looked worried.

"Don't worry, hunny, I'm ok," Zelos stated and the next second he got one of the unforgettable clouts.

"Don't call me that way!" Sheena complained.

Zelos smiled. So the dangerous banshee still existed. Very well, he liked Sheena the way she was although that ment many bumps for him.

Sheena sighed. "If you have to go to the king you could at least take Ashton with you. Now that he is in Meltokio he should see the castle from inside."

Zelos shook his head vehemently. "I don't think that's a good idea, Sheena, he'll only …"

"He will be a good boy and behave. Right, Ashton?" Sheena asked the boy.

He nodded and put once again the 'I'm-a-little-angel-mask' on.

'_You don't need to fool me, I don't fall for your innocent air any longer,'_ Zelos thought. He turned to Sheena. "I have to discuss important matters with the king and Ashton would only be bored." Somehow he had to convince her that Ashton shouldn't come with him.

"Ah, the boy can keep himself busy."

"That's what I fear …" Zelos muttered. Strained, he thought about a new argument. "I heard the king has a cold and we don't want Ashton to …"

"Zelos! The king doesn't have a cold, so take Ashton with you to the castle, for Martel's sake!" Sheena exclaimed angrily.

"Alright, alright," Zelos grumbled. "So, come, little rascal." Discontented he left the house and walked towards the castle.

As they were standing before the big gate Zelos stopped and looked warningly at Ashton. "You don't touch anything and don't say a word, understood?"

Ashton pulled a face and didn't answer.

Zelos sighed. _'Martel, please let him behave!'_ He turned towards one of the guards and demanded an audience with the king.

The guard nodded and entered the castle to let the king know.

Sometimes it was advantageous to be the former chosen. Everyone else probably would have had to wait some days to see the king – unless it was really important – but Zelos could get almost every time immediately into the castle to speak with the king. This time as well.

Zelos and Ashton entered the throne room and Zelos couldn't forbear a grin as he heard Ashton gasp in amazement. Something this magnificent the tyke probably had never seen before although Sheila wasn't really poor. Being a relative of the chosen she belonged to the aristocrats but she never really cared. She also hadn't cared about Zelos being the chosen. She had always treated him normally, reprimanding him with clouts and kicks when they were still children and had more contact.

'_Now that I'm thinking about it … Sheila and Sheena could be sisters …'_ he thought amused. Not only did they treat him with the same painful method, they looked similar, too. Both of them had black hair and this exceedingly dangerous glance when they were angry.

The king finally startled him out of his thoughts. "What is it, chosen?"

"It's about the ball, your highness. It can impossibly take place in my mansion; I have a plague in my house," Zelos said.

"What kind of plague? Certainly there can be something done."

"Err …" Zelos tried to find some answer. "It's a … a fly plague, that's right!"

The king looked at him unimpressed. "I'll send a pest exterminator to your mansion."

"Err … No, that's not possible because … those flies pass a very dangerous disease on and … the remedy is limited and … we don't want anyone to get unnecessarily sick, right?"

The king looked at him skeptically. "But shouldn't you have this disease then as well?"

"I just recovered, your majesty. If you had this disease one time you're forever immune against it …" Zelos claimed.

"But couldn't you kill these flies with insect spray?" the king suggested.

Why had this old geezer to be so persistent? Couldn't he displace the ball into another mansion? There were enough aristocrats in the city after all! Besides, one could spend the gald that was to be used for the ball much better by helping the poor ones for example or rebuilding Ozette or … doing anything else beneficial!

However, Zelos didn't say anything of this but held back. Rather he thought about a good answer. "Those flies are immune against every kind of insect spray, your highness."

The king sighed. "Very well then, Zelos. Since you obviously don't want the ball to take place in your mansion – whatever reasons you may have – I'll have to displace it into another mansion."

Zelos was relieved. Finally! "Thanks, your majesty." Zelos bowed and wanted to go when he realized that Ashton wasn't standing beside him any longer. Highly alarmed, he looked around the throne room but didn't find the little boy anywhere. The next moment he heard it clanking and cursing.

Contrary to the king who was frowning confusedly Zelos knew exactly what was the cause of the noise.

"Ashton …" he growled with clenched teeth. Without losing one further word he ran deeper into the castle. The noise led him finally into the kitchen where the cooks were cursing loudly and picking up their pots and pans and cleaning the ground from the spilled food. However, the little rascal was nowhere to be seen. Probably he was on his way to ravage the next room.

Did the boy actually had fun doing this or did he only do it because he had the hope that Zelos would get in trouble? Presumably it was both …

Zelos asked the annoyed cooks if they knew where the boy was but he didn't get the answer he wished for. On the contrary he was asked questions angrily.

"Are you saying the boy's with you?" one with a big moustache wanted to know.

It seemed as though the cooks hadn't realized he was the chosen because otherwise they wouldn't have talked to him that way.

Unfortunately he hadn't have the chance to point it out since the cooks got louder with every second and their eyes sparkled more and more in a dangerous way.

"Don't you know that one doesn't bring such a rascal into the castle?"

"Will you bear the damage?"

"Do you know how hard we had to work for this?"

Zelos saw it coming that they would grab their knives and threaten him and to be honestly he didn't want to find out what could be sliced with these. So he ran quickly out of the kitchen; however, some of the cooks were so angry that they followed him.

"Wait, wait, I'm Zelos Wilder, the chosen!" he shouted but it was no use.

"Everyone could say that!" one of the cooks grumbled.

"But I really am!"

"Tell that to your grandmother!" another cook exclaimed.

"She's already dead!"

"Your problem!"

Zelos came to the conclusion that it was futile trying to convince the cooks of him being the chosen. Screaming, he ran through the castle in the search of Ashton and/ or a safe hideout. He ran around a corner, found a candelabrum and flew to it, hoping that the cooks would pass by without seeing him or at least realize that he really was the chosen. In the end, the first applied. Though the cooks were stopping shortly in confusion because they couldn't explain themselves where he had gone they finally decided to run further.

Sighing, Zelos flew to the ground again. Incredible, the only time you pointed out your title nobody believed you. Well, it was like he had thought: Half of the meltokian population didn't know his name, the other half didn't know what he looked like. The cooks belonged to the latter group or maybe they represented a minority which didn't neither know his name nor what he looked like.

Zelos looked around and realized that he was near to the archive. The door was gaping wide open. This couldn't mean only one thing: Ashton had been here.

So he entered and he almost didn't recognize the archive. The books were laying everywhere on the ground, the desks and chairs had fallen over and the walls were painted. Zelos found a green marker and picked it up – something he would regret shortly after.

"What … What in the name of the holy Martel …" Zelos heard suddenly a voice.

He turned around and saw a group of spectacle wearers. He realized that he still had the marker in his hand and hid it quickly but it was too late.

"What did you do here?" one of the men asked him angrily.

"I didn't do …"

"Liar! We caught you red-handed!" another one squeaked with a high voice.

"I'm …"

"We don't care who you are! Do you know how much work it was to file the books?"

Great, now the bookworms wanted to lynch him as well. Why the hell did nobody recognize him? Was he really so unknown? A title without a name and face?

But right now that wasn't important. He had to escape these maniacs. Well, this was a little problematic because the spectacular wearers blocked the only exit. So he had to start a little red herring.

Since the booklovers at least didn't lunch at him like the cooks had Zelos concentrated and cast a harmless version of fire ball on one of the books behind him. The archivists of course ran immediately to the fire and Zelos had the chance to escape.

Now it was really time to find Ashton, otherwise he had the whole castle against him in no time. He passed by the bed-chamber of the king and heard a strange noise. He stopped and opened carefully the door only to see the little cheeky devil hopping on the bed, obviously trying to pull the curtains of the four-poster bed down.

Zelos rushed into the room and closed the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zelos asked angrily.

"Having fun," Ashton answered in an almost innocent voice as if he didn't know that what he was doing wasn't really good for Zelos. But he knew very well.

"Stop it!" Zelos tried to catch the boy but he dodged.

Zelos started some more tries to catch Ashton but they all failed. He didn't realize that in doing so they ravaged the room more and more. When Ashton finally jumped on the bed again and Zelos followed him, Zelos got tangled up in the curtains while trying to catch Ashton and managed what the boy had been trying all the time: He pulled them down.

Zelos landed with a loud plop on the ground, entangled in the cloth and Ashton jumped grinning beside him.

The door suddenly opened and Zelos shouted in advance: "I'm the chosen, I'm the chosen, honestly!"

"I'm aware of this fact!"

Being in this position Zelos could only see the feet of the person but he knew with the help of the voice who was standing in front of him. He would have wished for any other person at the moment but not this one.

It was the king himself.

* * *

So, what will the king do? What will Zelos do? Will he get out of this bad situation? And will Ashton ravage the castle further or will he stop?

To be continued ...


	11. An old promise

Here I am again. I'm sorry it always takes such a long time for me to translate ... I thought, now that I'm done with school I would be much quicker but it seems like I was wrong ... ^^" But I promise to give it my best.

To silent romantic: Thank you again for your review. ^^ There will be some more funny chapters until it becomes serious again.

* * *

**Chapter 11: An old promise  
**

Zelos lay on his couch and held his hurting head. "This little devil! If he hadn't been there then …"

Sheena sighed and put an ice bag on his forehead. "Don't blame Ashton for everything."

"But if it is his fault? I don't know why but for some reason he doesn't like me! These aren't normal pranks anymore! Apart from that he's only four or five years old! How will it be in a few years? Fortunately I'll be rid of him soon … I'll be so glad when he's gone … Martel, please let this day come soon before the boy antagonizes everyone against me …"

"You sound like you don't want to have children sometime," Sheena said and dedicated herself to her book again.

The children were already sleeping and Sebastian handled the washing up as usually.

After the king had found Zelos in his bed-chamber and had made him responsible for all the ravage he had let the cooks and bookworms chase Zelos out of the castle and had given Zelos an order to stay away from the castle for a month. On his way outside Zelos had gotten more than one book and one pan thrown at his head. Everywhere on his body were bruises and his head felt like it was to explode every second.

"I do want to have children but not such a little devil. My children would respect me and love me …" Zelos answered.

"If you say so," Sheena muttered. She was too preoccupied with her book. It was quiet for some time until Zelos asked: "Do you want to have children, Sheena?"

"Hmm … Sometime …" she responded still reading her book. "When I found someone I want to have family with …"

"Hm." Zelos gazed sadly at the ceiling.

This person would probably not be him. But he wished for Sheena that it was someone who treated her well and loved her, someone who would gave his life for her without a thought. Because only someone like this deserved Sheena.

Zelos slowly fell asleep on the couch but awoke sometime later because of noise. He blinked a few times and then realized that it was Lilly who was crying.

Sheena held her already in her arms and tried to calm her down. She didn't seem to be hungry because she ignored the feeding bottle Sheena was holding towards her entirely. A change of the diaper was not necessary either, at least Zelos couldn't smell anything.

Sheena swayed the child in her arms but Lilly still seemed to miss something.

The kunoichi sighed. "What's wrong with you, sweetie? Do you have fever?" Sheena put her hand on the forehead of the baby. "No … Hmm … Did you have a nightmare?" (I don't know if little baby can have nightmares, too, I don't even know if they can dream at all … But it doesn't matter xD)

Lilly gave her of course no answer but kept on crying.

"Shhh … Everything's fine," Sheena murmured and then began to sing quietly. It was an old lullaby which calmed children normally down. But why she knew this she didn't know. Maybe her grandfather sang her the song but she doubted it because he had a terrible singing voice and didn't sing because of this.

In the meantime Zelos had straightened up and was watching Sheena the whole time. Never before had she looked so beautiful as now with the open hair and the baby in her arms. If Zelos hadn't already loved her with all his heart then now he would've fallen deeply in love with her.

Zelos envied Lilly a little bit because Sheena sang her so softly to sleep. She was never so soft to him but that was probably his own fault.

Sheena finally stopped singing but kept on summing the lullaby until Lilly had fallen asleep. "Sleep well, sweetie …" She kissed Lilly on the forehead and wanted to lay her in her bed again when she realized that Zelos was awake.

"That was wonderful, Sheena …" he said truly touched.

Sheena knew that he was serious and blushed. "I'm sorry that you had to hear my terrible singing …" She went upstairs and Zelos followed her.

"Terrible singing? Sheena, not even the loveliest songbirds could compete with you! With your voice you could melt even the hardest heart!" Zelos stated and probably the first time in his life he paid an honest compliment.

"You're exaggerating, Zelos," Sheena replied and laid Lilly in her bed. Then she left the room and closed the door.

"Can't you at least once accept a compliment from me?" Zelos asked sighing.

"You're right, I'm sorry," she answered. She hesitated a moment, then she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks." She smiled because of him being perplexed. She already wanted to go downstairs again but Zelos stopped her.

"Sheena …"

She turned back to him and looked at him questioningly.

"I love you. I know I've said this already once and you probably don't want to hear this but I want you to believe me that I'm serious. I love you and I will always love you, no matter if … if our ways will continue separated from one another or not."

A cold shiver ran down Sheena's spine. Again. Again he managed for her to feel so helpless, so indecisive. What was she supposed to do? Why did he have to confuse her this much? Couldn't he just behave like he always did? Then it would've been simple for Sheena to wipe him out of her life after a week and to forget him but now …

What was she supposed to do?

She just stood there stock-still but Zelos hadn't expected an answer anyway. "Well, I think I'll go to bed now. A little bit of sleep can hopefully ease my headache …" He turned around and wanted to go to his room as he suddenly felt two arms entwined around him.

"Why, Zelos? Why can't I just hate you? Why are you making it so difficult for me?" Sheena whispered and leaned her head on his back.

"Sheena … I'm sorry … I didn't want to …"

"Cut it out, you're becoming like Colette … You apologize for something for which you can't be blamed … Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Of course, how could I ever forget this?"

:::

_Sheena sat on the ground leaning against a tree and cried. As long as she was alone she could allow herself to let the tears come out. But she wasn't allowed in front of others._

_She was a ninja girl and as such she wasn't permitted to show any feelings, never. But apart from that it was her pride which prohibited her to cry in front of others. She had to be strong. She belonged to the ninja._

_It had been only one day since she failed to make a pact with Volt and killed half of the village. Everybody wanted to convince her that it wasn't fault but in the eyes of the villagers and her friends she could see that they did thought it was her fault._

_And Sheena knew that they were right with their quiet allegations. It was her fault. She should've been stronger. Because of her failing many citizens of Mizuho had died and the chief, her grandfather, was in a coma._

_She had failed and had disappointed everyone. She had no right to be trained to be a ninja anymore. She was too weak._

_While she was sobbing all the time and hated herself for bringing so much harm upon the villagers of Mizuho she didn't realize someone was coming closer._

_She didn't realize it until that someone was standing directly in front of her and blocked the sun._

"_On such a nicely day nobody should cry."_

_Sheena looked up but could only make out the dark outlines of the person._

"_I don't cry!" Sheena said and wiped quickly the tears away. "Something just got in my eye!"_

_The person crouched down in front of her and now Sheena saw that it was a boy about her age. His red hair had shoulder-length and his eyes were as blue as the sky. He wore such elegant clothes that he had to be an aristocrat. Sheena wondered what he was doing here, in the midst of the Gaoracchia forest._

_He nudged her forehead. "Come with me, I'll make you laugh today." He grabbed her hand but she freed herself from his grip._

"_And if I don't want to laugh?"_

_The boy sighed. "Well, then you'll have to continue sitting here and drowning in a sea of tears. And who would benefit from this? Nobody."_

"_No, many people would benefit from it …" Sheena murmured quietly._

_"__I don't think so. You certainly have friends and family who care about you," the boy replied._

_Sheena shook her head. "I don't know my parents, the only family I have is my grandfather and he's in a coma because of me … And I have lost all my friends … one way or another …" The tears threatened to run down her face again._

_The boy looked at her contemplatively for a while. "Then we're alike … I also don't have neither friends nor family … Hey, since we're so similar let's be friends!"_

_Sheena looked skeptically at him. "I don't even know you."_

"_I'm Zelos Wilder. What's your name?"_

"_Sheena … Sheena Fujibayashi." Somehow his name sounded familiar but she couldn't remember where she had heard it before._

"_So, Sheena, are we friends now?"_

_Sheena nodded slowly. "Ok."_

_Zelos grinned and grabbed her hand again. "Come, I want to show you something. I show it only to my friends and since I never had ones before you're the first one to see. Well, apart from the people who get there by coincidence …"_

"_Where are we going to?" Sheena asked. She was afraid that she wouldn't find the way back to Mizuho; one could easily get lost in the Gaoracchia forest after all._

"_You'll see in a second, it's not far from here." Then he stopped and turned around to her. "You know that there are only dark places in the Gaoracchia forest, right?"_

_Sheena nodded. "Yes, and because everything looks alike one gets lost easily."_

"_Right. But not all places here are dark and creepy."_

_They walked on and suddenly they reached a beautiful clearing where a river flowed and the sun shone through the crowns of the trees. While the rest of the Gaoracchia forest seemed dead here pure life ruled._

_Birds were chirping happily, butterflies flew around, rabbits hobbled across the clearing … It was beautiful._

"_How … How can it be that there is such a nice place in this creepy forest?" Sheena asked taken aback._

"_It's due to the balance of the world. When there is death there also has to be life, when there are shadows there has to be light as well, when there is something ugly there has to be something pretty," Zelos explained. "And when there is sorrow there has to be happiness, too."_

_Sheena smiled._

"_You see?" Zelos smiled now as well._

_They stayed for a while at the clearing, let their feet dangle in the water of the river and listened to nature but then Zelos said that it was time for him to go._

"_I'll bring you back to the place where we met," he stated._

_When they arrived there Sheena asked: "Will we see each other again?"_

"_I don't know. I won't have often the opportunity to come here."_

_Sheena looked depressed at the ground but then she lifted her head again and smiled at Zelos. "I'll wait for you at the clearing."_

_Zelos smiled as well. "Someday we will be together there again, I promise you."_

:::_  
_

"You never came …" Sheena whispered.

"I know. I could leave Meltokio only a few times. And when we met again you were like a different person …"

"I was angry with you because you never came … You were my only friend but I had the feeling that you had abandoned me as well …"

"Sheena …" Zelos turned around and saw that Sheena had tears in her eyes. He wiped them away. "I never meant to hurt you … I'm sorry. But it isn't too late yet to keep the promise. And I promise you that we will visit the clearing again sometime soon."

"Will you this time be able to keep your promise? I don't want to hope for something again that won't come true anyway …"

"We'll be there again, trust me," Zelos said.

"I trust you …"

What happened next Zelos had never considered possible. Sheena leaned forward, laid her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was surprised but came quickly to his senses again and responded to the kiss.

Slowly they got to his room and Zelos wasn't sure if he was the one leading them there …

* * *

Sweet, huh? ^^ Yeah, I think everyone can imagine what will happen next ... And just so that you know: I will not describe THAT part. xD I'm not a lemon writer although a friend of mine always wants me to write a lemon ... But it's not really my thing. I like to read them, though ... *cough*

Well ... Obviously Zelos and Sheena sleep together but what will happen after that? Will they be together? Or will it be an awkward situation?

To be continued ...


	12. Amusement park and fortune teller

Yeah, this time I was faster than usual! =)

To silent romantic: Yeah, I know it was fast. But it's still complicated for them. xD Thank you, I'm glad that you like my writing. I give it my best. ^^

To Moonlight M3lody: Thank you for your review. ^^ I'm happy that you like this story. Yeah, no problem. I know that situation, that's why I'm glad I'm done with school and have now some free time. ^^ Okay, I'm sorry that you didn't like that part. But I hope you will get over this. =) Ah, thank you for correcting me. I hope I make it right now. If not, please tell me. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 12: Amusement park and fortune teller  
**

As Sheena woke up the next morning she felt really good. She had once again slept through the night and hadn't been woken up by strange dreams or because of important missions.

She stretched with pleasure and then watched Zelos sleeping. Even if she was still a little bit confused that she was lying next to Zelos in the same bed – though she knew it had mostly been her doing – she was happy.

She felt so great that she felt ready to take on anything and she knew that she owed that only to Zelos. He had given her the love she had searched for such a long time.

She nestled up against him and dozed off again. Nothing would be able to destroy this happiness. She would annul her condition and stay with Zelos. They would become happy and someday have a family.

Everything was great. Fate had given her life finally a small light.

:::

One hour later Zelos woke up and watched the angel in his arms. How often had he wished for this situation? How often had he dreamed of holding Sheena in his arms? And now it had finally come true. Or was it just a dream after all? It was actually too good to be true. But it felt so real …

Her soft skin, her warmth, her breath upon his neck … Could one dream so real? If so, then fate had done a great job. Zelos wanted to have such dreams more often. Although reality was of course still better.

No matter if it was a dream or reality, Zelos felt great. He only hoped that Sheena felt the same way. Not that she was somehow angry with him and gave her a tower of clouts … That wouldn't have been fair because it had been her who led them towards the bed. It hadn't displeased him of course …

He felt a stir in his arms and realized that Sheena was slowly waking up.

"Morning," he said.

She smiled. "Good morning."

Luckily she didn't gave him clouts. But maybe it would've been better if she did it because now there was this awkward silence between them. Neither of them knew what to say.

Zelos couldn't stand any longer and finally said: "I think I'll look how far Sebastian is with making breakfast …"

Sheena nodded. "I will look after the children."

They dressed quietly and then each of them went his own way. Zelos just hoped that it wouldn't be the whole day like this only because they didn't know how to deal with one another.

Though it was normally so simple! One loved each other, one slept with each other, one was happy. But it was different with them. Zelos loved Sheena, no question about it but if she reciprocated his feelings he didn't know. She hadn't said it.

But that they had spend the night together was more Zelos had ever hoped for. Maybe he hadn't won her heart but he definitely wouldn't forget this night.

:::

Sheena was sighing nonstop as she helped Ashton getting dressed. Why was everything always so complicated? Why was _she_ so complicated? Why couldn't she simply … Yes, but what? What was she supposed to do? What had she made wrong? Why had been between her and Zelos this awkward silence? Was it her fault or his or the fault of both of them?

Sheena shook her head. She was so confused. How would it go on now? Once again Zelos had brought her into a situation she couldn't handle. Though this time it had been actually her doing. But no matter who was fault, she didn't knew what to do now.

Should she maybe talk with Zelos about it? But what should she say? That it had been a mistake? No, no, she couldn't say that. It hadn't been a mistake.

"Damn feelings …" Sheena cursed quietly.

:::

During breakfast Sheena and Zelos tried to behave like they always did. However, Sebastian noticed the strange atmosphere that was between them. He just had to put two and two together and could imagine what had happened.

"What should we do today?" Zelos asked suddenly. "I don't want to hang around here all day."

"Why don't we visit the amusement park in Altamira?" Sheena suggested. "We could also visit Regal then."

"Oh yeah, an amusement park!" Ashton exclaimed enthusiastic.

Zelos nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Sebastian would you mind staying here and watching over Lilly?"

The butler shook his head. "Of course not, sir. I have to clean the house anyway."

"Well then …" Zelos replied.

:::

After they had finished breakfast Zelos, Sheena and Ashton left for Altamira. While they were flying the wind disheveled their hair and the sun warmed their faces. Beneath them the water was glittering and rose to mighty waves as if it wanted to be closer to them.

Finally they landed on the island where the big city Altamira was. Since the reunification of the worlds Sylvarant and Tethe'alla this city had grown like many other cities as well. After all not only did the people of Sylvarant surge to the for them new and unknown part of the world – and the other way round as well – but there also more half-elves between the humans. And Raine and Genis had luckily done such a great job that they were accepted mostly; partly they were even welcomed because of their intelligence and the resulting progress.

So no wonder that the business concern which Regal and Yuan had founded together employed mostly half-elves. This business concern, the Magitechnology Corporation – in short Magy Corp – produced different inventions which were run by magitechnology. The domicile of the Magy Corp was one the one hand in Sybak, one the other hand in Palmacosta.

One could have thought now that Regal and Yuan had more to do because of the Magy Corp but as far as the friends had heard they didn't have to do much regarding this business concern; so they could assume that Regal was in Altamira.

"What do we want to do first? Visit Regal or go to the amusement park?" Zelos asked.

"Let's visit Regal later. I think he will have less work then. Besides, Ashton can't seem to wait to go to the amusement park," Sheena mentioned.

The black haired boy was already squirrelly and would probably have sprinted towards the amusement park if Sheena didn't held his hand. So he pulled her by the hand all the time and got annoyed because of them being so slow.

When they finally arrived at the amusement park they first had a ride with the rotating cups. At the beginning it was still funny but after a while Zelos was so dizzy that he didn't know anymore which side was up so he finally got out of the cups.

Sheena and Ashton continued riding them because the little rascal couldn't get enough from these hellish tops. In the meantime Zelos looked around and spotted a tent. Hanging above was a sign on which 'Let fortune teller Morgrary tell you the future' was written.

Zelos thought about for a while and then shrugged. He didn't really believe in such crap but it wouldn't hurt.

The thick dark red cloth of the tent lessened the happy voices of children from outside and let the interior seem a little bit dark. But maybe this was also due to the many strange talismans and candles that were standing everywhere. In the middle of the tent was a table with a crystal ball.

"Hello?" Zelos said because he saw nobody.

Something was rustling and the next moment a corpulent woman came out of the back part of the tent. "Ah, don't say anything, you want me to tell you the future," Morgrary stated in a mysterious voice as if she had disclosed one of the biggest secrets in the world.

"No, actually I wanted to buy cotton candy in here," Zelos replied in a sarcastic voice.

Morgrary did as if she hadn't heard it and sat down unimpressed in front of the crystal ball. "Sit down."

Zelos sighed and complied with her request.

"Give me something of you, if possible something that you always carry with you."

Zelos hesitated a little bit but then he gave her his Cruxis crystal.

She closed her eyes and then let her hands float above the crystal. "At the moment you suffer from nightmares, right?"

"Yeah, but how do you …" Zelos asked lightly puzzled.

"I can feel it. I feel as well that this recurring nightmare is worrying you. Maybe I can find out more about that," Morgrary said.

"Is that possible?"

The fortune teller opened her eyes again and gave Zelos the crystal back. "Of course. I can not only tell the future but also the past and the present. Furthermore, I can establish contact with ghosts and …"

"Yeah, yeah, very well, you don't have to list everything you can do. Please just find out why this nightmare haunts me; it's making me crazy," Zelos interrupted her impatiently.

Morgrary nodded. She closed her eyes again and put her hand on the crystal ball. She sat this way for a while without something changing.

Zelos raised an eyebrow and wanted already to say something as Morgrary opened her eyes and looked into the crystal ball. However, her eyes seemed empty and when she started speaking her voice sounded differently.

"She's in danger … in great danger … They're after the bracelet … They will kill her … and then they will continue searching … The boy … Protect the boy … A letter with an explanation … The truth will come to light … The lost sister must be found and the Nature Spirits have to be freed by her … The prophecy has to be fulfilled … The prophecy …" Morgrary collapsed on the table.

Zelos blinked in confusion and then shook her shoulder. She woke finally up.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Err … You said something strange … It was so much … The last sentences were about a prophecy …" Zelos explained. He tried to organize what he had heard.

"I can't remember what I have seen in the crystal ball …" the fortune teller replied musing. "It has never happened before to me …"

"Hmm …" Zelos left the tent and thought about everything. He still didn't know if the woman in his dream was Sheena and he was even more confused than before. What had this prophecy now to do with his nightmare? He assumed that it was the prophecy Raine was already mired in as well.

And which boy had to be protected? Perhaps Ashton?

Zelos sighed and walked back towards the rotating cups where Sheena and Ashton were already waiting for him.

"Where have you been?" Sheena asked almost a little bit reproachful.

"Well," Zelos answered a little bit unsure because he didn't know if he should tell her something about the fortune teller. However, he finally decided against it because he would've had to tell her about the nightmare as well and that would've worried Sheena definitely. "I was just stretching my legs a little bit …"

"Hmm …" Sheena looked at him skeptically but she didn't have the chance to ask further questions because Ashton pointed at the roller coaster and said excitedly: "I want to go there next!"

Zelos looked appalled at the monstrous thing which called itself roller coaster and which reached so far into the sky that it seemed as if it wanted to compete with the Tower of Salvation. He spotted some loop-the-loops and helixes as well. "I get nauseous just by looking at this thing …"

"Come on, it's definitely not as bad as it looks," Sheena said in a convinced voice and dragged Zelos along with her.

"Why haven't I wrote my last will yet?" Zelos murmured quietly.

* * *

Will everything be normal again between Zelos and Sheena? Will they come together or was this night rather an one-night stand?

What about the strange things the fortune teller said? What about the prophecy? Is Ashton really the boy who has to be protected?

And will Zelos survive the ride with the monstrous roller coaster? xD

To be continued ...


	13. The Illusion Projector

Yay, the next chapter's finished! ^^

To silent romantic: ^^ Yeah, creepy roller coaster. xD But he somehow managed to survive, I can tell you that much. =) Hm hm, a mysterious prophecy ... A prophecy that will change everything. However, the prophecy's more important for the sequel. Well, you will see if it was only a one-night stand ...

To Moonlight M3lody: Yes, right now I update fast. xD But that could change again although I don't hope so. I want to keep this tempo. Hmm, well, I ride only the ones without loop-the-loops when I'm in a amusement park which happens not so often ... Yeah. xD Like I said the prophecy has a greater role in the sequel. =)

Well, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Illusion Projector  
**

"Is it still far away, Burkam?" a young lady in a carriage asked while she petted the head of her dog.

"No, not so far, milady. We're almost there," her servant Burkam replied.

The woman nodded. "I can't wait to see him again!"

"He'll definitely be as happy as you, milady," Burkam said and then closed the door of the carriage so that they could continue the journey.

The lady had brought some of her maids and servants from Flanoir with her and of course her dog as well which would whelp sometime soon.

In front of them the contours of Meltokio could already be seen and it would take only a few hours at most until they had finally reached the royal city.

:::

"I suggest … we go visit Regal now …" Zelos murmured staggering. He was totally pale; a consequence of the thirty-sixth ride with the hellish roller coaster. It was a miracle anyway that he had been able to keep the contents of his stomach inside himself until now.

"But it's only midday now. He's probably still working," Sheena objected.

"He surely has a lunch break …" Zelos replied. In fact, it didn't matter to him if they visited Regal now or later as long as his stomach could recover.

"But it's such fun!" Ashton exclaimed and pointed at the roller coaster.

Zelos shook his head and regretted it immediately because he got dizzy again and his nausea got worse.

"Here, you have to drink something," Sheena said and handed him a water bottle over.

"I don't know if I can drink something right now …" Zelos muttered.

"You have to drink something or you'll collapse because of the heat! Maybe it's really be better if we visit Regal now; we have been in the sun for hours. If we don't search for some shady place soon we'll get a sunstroke," Sheena stated who used her fighting cards as a fan. "It sure is really hot today … Even for Altamira it's almost too hot …"

Zelos nodded carefully and took then a few sips of water. After that he felt a little bit better. "Let's go …"

Ashton of course was sulking a little bit because they didn't have another ride with the roller coaster but he could understand that they had to get out of the sun.

When the three of them entered the building of the Lezareno Company it was settled that they wouldn't leave too soon. It was comfortably cool but that was probably due to the newest invention of the Magy Corp: the air-conditioning system.

This invention was mostly sold in Triet and Altamira of course but it was really necessary there after all. However, until now only big business concerns and rich people were able to afford the air-conditioning systems. Of course Yuan and Regal wanted to make sure that every house in those two cities would be provided with this invention sometime soon but right now they couldn't do much about the price because the production wasn't really cheap. But they were confident that every family would be able to afford an air-conditioning system in a few years.

"I could use something like that as well …" Zelos sighed.

Sheena looked at him skeptically. "It's not sooo warm in Meltokio, though."

"It is sometimes. Some days in summer are so unbearably hot that even the king takes off his royal robe," Zelos replied.

It was common knowledge that the king only rarely took off his robe. Some people rumored as well that he kept wearing it while sleeping but Sheena couldn't really believe this.

They wanted to enter the elevator but the guard didn't want to let them through without an identity card. So they tried to explain him that they knew the president personally but of course the guard didn't believe them.

Fortunately for them George, Regal's assistant, appeared this moment. He knew them and explained everything to the guard.

So they could finally take the elevator to go to the upper floor. When they got off, however, they looked around in confusion.

"What happened here?" Sheena asked puzzled.

"It looked different the last time we were here …" Zelos said.

Normally they would've come into a little anteroom from which one could directly go into Regal's office. But now they were in a large hallway.

"Maybe we're on the wrong floor?" Ashton assumed.

Sheena and Zelos looked at the display panel above the elevator and shook their heads.

"Perhaps they've rebuilt the building …" Zelos muttered.

"But it looked the same like last time from outside! And we would've seen it from outside if they had built such a large hallway in here … Let's go a little further; maybe we find Regal's office then …" Sheena suggested.

After they had followed the hallway for a few minutes to the left they had to realize that they were in a true labyrinth of similar looking hallways.

"That's really strange …" Sheena said musing.

"Let's go back to the elevator. We can ask the guard below what has happened here," Zelos suggested and Sheena and Ashton nodded.

So they were on their way back. They went back exactly like they had come to this place – Sheena had memorized the way perfectly – but when they reached the hallway in which the elevator should've been they found only a normal hallway which couldn't be separated from the other hallways.

"Maybe we once took the wrong turn?" Zelos asked.

Sheena shook her head. "No, that's not possible!"

"I want to go … This place is creepy …" Ashton murmured and clung to Sheena.

Suddenly they heard someone laughing.

Zelos frowned. "What the hell …"

The next moment the hallways around them dispersed and they were in Regal's office. The president was standing in front of them and laughing loudly. A little bit more and he would lay rolling on the ground. Next to him Presea was standing. She didn't laugh but was giggling instead which wasn't really better.

"What the hell's going on?" Zelos wanted to know slightly angered.

Regal calmed finally down and explained everything to them. "I'm sorry. But … a moment ago you had the fortune – or misfortune, if you rather want to see it like that – to test the Magy Corp's newest invention."

"And what is this new invention?" Sheena asked. "How to disorient people?"

Regal nodded. "Something like that. It's a security measure similar to an alarm system. Only much better. A incredible real illusion is created, for example these hallways you have seen. The burglar may manage to handle the newest alarm system but he won't be able to deal with the Illusion Projector. They'll wander through the area while special sensors are activated which produce a not audible sound. The renegades have a sort of antenna that receive these sounds and so they get to know where the burglar's breaking in and can arrest the person. Regarding first estimations the Illusion Projectors will sell like hotcakes once they're on the market."

"And why did we of all people have to test this invention?" Zelos asked sulking.

"Well, let's just say you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had the Illusion Projector just started when you came out of the elevator," Regal explained.

"So you did know that we were here?" Sheena wanted to know.

Now it was Presea's turn to say something. "Cameras."

Regal nodded. "That's right, we have installed security cameras across from the elevator. Besides, I can see with this little object …", he showed them a device which had a few buttons and a display, "… what's happening inside the illusion. It was really amusing to see how you wandered through the hallways in confusion." Regal laughed again.

"So the one time we come to visit you we become victims of some kind of safety device …" Zelos muttered. "Maybe we should go back to the amusement park …"

"Come on, don't be like that, Zelos. In exchange for making fun of you you'll get an Illusion Projector for free," Regal said.

"Hmm …" Zelos thought about it. "An air-conditioning system wouldn't be too bad either …"

Regal sighed. "Well, okay, an air-conditioning system as well. Satisfied?"

Zelos grinned. "Yeah. Well, I could use a drink, too."

They stayed until afternoon with Regal and talked with him and Presea about some issues. However, after a while they came to the conclusion that it was time to go back to Meltokio.

Ashton had once even behaved well but that was probably because of Sheena. Zelos didn't know why but when he was with her Ashton seemed to want to make a good impression. So maybe Zelos should be with Sheena all the time so that the boy wouldn't cause him any trouble. Apart from that he wanted to be together with her anyway.

The silence that had been between them in the morning was finally gone and they started getting closer again. When they arrived in Meltokio they even held hands while going to the mansion.

"We're back!" Zelos announced as they entered the house.

Sebastian got out of the dining room the next second. Something seemed to be wrong because he somehow seemed to be nervous.

Sheena instantly feared the worst. "Is something wrong with Lilly?" She almost yelled at him because she was so worried.

"No, no, she's alright," the butler calmed her down. "But sir, we have another problem … Or rather you have a problem …"

"What problem? No, let me guess! The king wants to have compensation money! I knew he wouldn't leave it just with the order to stay away from the house! That old geezer! As if he doesn't have enough money already!" Zelos talked himself into a rage while Sebastian tried again and again to interrupt him.

"No, sir, it's …"

"Although it's not even my fault that his bed-chamber looks so battered now!" Zelos clamored while looking at Ashton.

"Sir …" Sebastian tried again.

"It's all his fault!" Zelos pointed at Ashton.

"Sir! Please listen to me already!" Sebastian exclaimed whereupon Zelos kept finally quiet.

At this moment a dog with seven puppies entered the lobby.

"Sebastian, how often do I have to tell you that you mustn't …" Zelos stopped in the middle of the sentence and looked musing at the dog. "I know this dog …"

"Sir … Your fiancée is here," Sebastian said.

* * *

Somehow I can't imagine Regal laughing that madly ... xD He's somehow a little bit ooc but that doesn't matter. He's a minor character anyway. Ah, by the way, did you know that 'Regal' is a German word and means 'shelf'? That's why we sometimes make fun of him. ^^ 'Richter' is not really better either because that means 'judge'. And 'Abend' means 'evening'. I don't know why but the Japanese seem to like German words ... In Suikoden V there's also a person named 'Zweig' which means 'twig' ... Well, on the other hand English words are often used as names as well. I used an English word as a name in this story as well but at that moment I had forgotten that it is an English word. xD

Ok, back to the topic. I think the Illusion Projector is a nice invention but unfortunately I forgot to bring it in again ... like almost every invention I mention in the story. xD

Well, like you see it wasn't only a one-night stand. But there are still some problems, hehe ... Like Zelos' fiancée who suddenly appears. But is it really his fiancée? How will Sheena react? What will Zelos do?

To be continued ...


	14. A fateful agreement

So the story continues. ^^

To Moonlight M3lody: ^^ Yeah, I don't want to imagine that either. xD I don't know ... Well, she's a strong woman. xD

Ah, ok, that makes somehow sense. xD That's probably the reason why they chose that name. Yeah, I love RPGs too. =) Yeah, that's right. ^^ I don't know Suikoden Tierkreis yet but I want to play it someday and Suikoden IV as well. ^^

A short while ago I saw a Japanese Drama (I love them =3) where some people spoke German ... At least it was supposed to be German but I couldn't understand a word. xD

To silent romantic: Here's the update. xD I hope Zelos will still live after you've read the chapter. xD

^^ Yeah, I like the Illusion Projector too. =)

* * *

**Chapter 14: A fateful agreement  
**

"My … fian … cée?" Zelos asked confused.

The next moment a woman ran towards Zelos. She had long dark green hair and ultramarine eyes and wore a tight summer dress whose color seemed to be one moment green and the next moment blue. It had to be an expensive cloth which probably contained magical fibers. She gave Zelos a rapturous hug and exclaimed: "Oh, Zelos, I've missed you so much!"

Zelos tried to free himself out of her clinch but he was unsuccessful. Searching for help he looked at Sheena. However, when he saw how hurt Sheena seemed to be it broke his heart more or less.

"So that's how it is … I should've known this …" Sheena murmured in a trembling voice before she ran towards the door.

"Sheena, wait! That's a misunderstanding!" Zelos shouted but she had already left.

Ashton gave him a last deadly glance before he followed Sheena.

"Who was that?" Zelos' fiancée asked.

"Laureen, what are you doing here? Why do you claim that you're my fiancée?" Zelos wanted to know angrily.

"I don't claim it, it's the truth! Our parents got us engaged when we were still children," Laureen explained and finally let go of him. "Aren't at least a little bit happy to see me after all this time?"

Zelos ignored her question and turned towards his butler who still stood beside them and didn't know what to do. "My parents got me engaged? Sebastian, is that true?"

"I overheard something about an engagement back then but I don't know anything else," the butler answered.

"If you want to have it in writing … Here's the agreement which both our parents have signed back then," Laureen said and got a single paper out of her bag.

Zelos read the agreement and recognized the signature of his mother. If the signature of his father was real or fake he couldn't tell because he had barely known him.

"How could they do something like this?" Zelos couldn't believe it. How had his parents get him engaged this young? Above all, it wasn't a tradition anymore to get one's children engaged at a young age. And neither his nor Laureen's parents had been in need of a coverage.

"It's advantageous for both our families," Laureen said. "Being the wife of the chosen I would be like a princess, at least I would have such an influence on the people here –"

'_Only you believe that … Do you really think my far too devoted groupies would see you as a princess? They would rather lynch you the moment the priest makes us husband and wife … Hmm … No, they will rather send you to the other side with their deadly gazes when they get to know that we're engaged … So you should prepare for your grave,'_ Zelos thought.

"– and for you this marriage would be advantageous as well," Laureen stated.

Zelos raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? In what way?" It didn't really interest him; he would probably get some territories by marrying her. As if he wanted them …

"Like you probably know Meltokio and Flanoir don't have a friendly relationship. To be more precisely, Flanoir is the only area that hasn't pledged loyalty to the king. That's why it's no wonder that the king had tried several times to convince the duke of Flanoir, my father, to make a deal – unsuccessfully."

"You don't have to tell me; I know all that," Zelos interrupted her impatiently.

Laureen didn't let herself be distracted. "But your father finally made him an offer he couldn't refuse. By getting us married he promised my father great influence on Meltokio. The chosen is the most important churchly person after all. The people can do without a pope but not without a chosen because he symbolizes their hope. But of course your father had an advantage as well: A good reputation by the king because he had tried many times before to make a deal with Flanoir. And with that our marriage had been decided …"

For second Zelos thought to see sorrow in her eyes but the next moment she looked the same as before so that Zelos wasn't sure if it hadn't been just his imagination.

"And if I don't want to marry you? I could simply tear the agreement apart and everything's fine," Zelos said and was about to fulfill his words.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. If this wedding is canceled … Flanoir will go to war against Meltokio. Our marriage is so to speak a peace treaty."

Zelos was shocked for a moment and drooped the paper but then he smiled. "Meltokio has powerful allies. Flanoir wouldn't stand a chance."

"Flanoir has many allies as well, Zelos. Besides, not every region is really loyal to the king. Flanoir probably wouldn't win a war but there would be definitely a great bloodshed. And you don't want to tell me honestly that you would be fine with innocent people dying only because you refuse to marry me," Laureen replied.

Zelos grinded his teeth. Of course he couldn't allow something like that … He wouldn't be able look in the mirror anymore if he were responsible of so many deaths. So he had no other choice … He had to agree to the wedding … But what would happen to Sheena then? If he married Laureen, he would lose Sheena definitely … But did he have a choice? Was him his personal happiness so important that he would abandon thousands of people to their fate? No.

He sighed. "When's the wedding supposed to take place?"

"Today."

Zelos' eyes grew as big as the noble porcelain saucers of the aristocratic ladies. "WHAT? Why so soon?"

"In the agreement it is written that the wedding shall be today," Laureen explained.

Not only Zelos was outraged; Sebastian waved his arms in astonishment as well. "But that's impossible! How am I supposed to prepare everything in time? Someone has to inform the priest and invite the guests; food has to be bought, a room has to be arranged …" Sebastian finally remembered that he was only a human as well and needed to breathe air because of that.

"Don't worry, everything's arranged. The priest is already preparing the marriage ceremony, the rings had been bought, my servants and maids are the guests, we don't have to worry about the food as well and a room in the castle is available for us. Your suit is in your room, by the way, Zelos," Laureen said.

Zelos gawped at her. This very day? That was too soon! He even hadn't the time to prepare for the wedding mentally!

"Everything should be ready in one hour. Until then you can do what you want, go for a walk, think about everything … resolve things you have to resolve now …"

Zelos assumed that the latter was a hint on Sheena and he had the suspicion that Laureen also hadn't agreed to this wedding by choice. But right now he hadn't the time to think about this; he had to find Sheena and explain everything to her, so he left the house without saying another word.

However, he had unfortunately no clue where Sheena could be. Maybe she wasn't even in the city anymore? But after he had looked in the shed where the Rheairds where he knew that she still had to be in Meltokio.

Zelos ran through the city searching for her. He looked in every little corner, kept an eye on the roofs and trees as well and asked people on the street if they had seen her but he just couldn't find her.

And he hadn't so much time left … He had only left a quarter of an hour until he had to be in front of the altar and Martel would witness his marriage to a woman he even didn't want to marry.

He kicked a stone while sighing and walked slowly to his favorite place: the sewer. With a lowered head he walked further and saw the person that was sitting at the water not until he was standing before them.

"Sheena!"

"Hello … Zelos …" She tried to smile but she wasn't really successful.

How come she was sitting before her like a picture of misery and even tried to _smile_? That wasn't like her! Normally she would've yelled at him, she would've beaten him until he couldn't be recognized anymore and then she would've rushed away like a steaming locomotive.

"Sheena … I …"

"Go away!" Ashton exclaimed who was sitting next to Sheena.

Zelos realized the little boy only now.

"It's fine, Ashton," Sheena said.

"No, it's not …" Zelos replied. "I'm sorry, Sheena … I didn't know about all this … But my parents got me engaged with Laureen when we were both still children and I don't have a choice but to marry her …"

"One always has a choice!" Ashton protested angrily.

Zelos shook his head. "No … Not always."

"When's the wedding going to be?" Sheena asked quietly.

"In ten minutes …"

"What?" Sheena and Ashton exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah … This day was chosen back then …" Zelos couldn't look at Sheena. He couldn't stand to see all the sorrow and pain in her eyes.

"I see … Then we should go soon … You still have to change your clothes," Sheena replied.

"I'm sorry, Sheena," Zelos murmured until he walked back to his mansion.

:::

A short time later Sheena was sitting next to Ashton and Sebastian in the little temple that was next to the castle. Ashton had tried to convince her not to go but Sheena somehow felt obligated to come. Even if she was sure that the whole thing would break her heart.

The priest had begun his speech long ago but Sheena didn't really listen to him. She just stared the whole time at Zelos who was standing beside his fiancée and gave Sheena every now and then sad glances.

The marriage ceremony was nearing its end and the priest came finally to the important part.

"Laureen Vilid, will you take Zelos Wilder to be your husband, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish his friendship and love him today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honor him, laugh with him and cry with him? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?" the priest asked.

A brief hesitation, then a clear "I will" could be heard.

"Zelos Wilder, will you take Laureen Vilid to be your wife, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honor her, laugh with her and cry with her? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

Everyone in the temple seemed to hold their breath as they waited for Zelos' answer. Sheena especially didn't dare to breathe. An eternity seemed to pass and Sheena wondered if maybe there was still hope left.

But then Zelos sighed and said: "I … will."

And so it was decided. Sheena's eyes filled with tears and the last thing she saw before she ran away was how Zelos and Laureen exchanged rings.

* * *

Poor Zelos, poor Sheena ... But that's fate. xD

Well, I think you can imagine that that's not yet the end. Zelos and Sheena will be together but it will take a while. ^^

I found the words the priest says in the internet. I first thought of translating the sentences I have in the German version but then I thought it would be better if I have the 'right' words ... Although I think there's too much with 'love' in it ... Zelos and Laureen don't love each other after all. But whatever, it doesn't matter anyway.

So ... How will things go on? Will Zelos maybe divorce Laureen so that he can be with Sheena? Will Flanoir go to war against Meltokio? Or will maybe ... a murder take place? *evil laugh* Well, you'll see ...

To be continued ...


	15. Dangerous night

The next chapter's finished. ^^

To silent romantic: I think Zelos is glad about that. xD Thank you. ^^ Well, this chapter is still depressing ... We come now to the serious parts of this story. ^^

To Moonlight M3lody: Yeah, I will. ^^

xDD Yes, it's funny when they speak English. ^^ But as long as one can understand them ... xD

Yes, it was unfair ... But Laureen had no other choice. Well, you'll see in this chapter. ^^

That's great. xD

* * *

**Chapter 15: Dangerous night  
**

Of course Zelos saw that Sheena ran outside and he would've liked to follow her but unfortunately the priest decided to say another few words, then they were surrounded by the guests – mainly Laureens servants, the king, his servants and a few aristocrats – and so Zelos had no chance to look for Sheena. Apart from that he didn't know anyway what to say to her … What should one do in such a situation? This should be taught the kids in school … This would be something one really could need someday. An utmost complicated math problem where vectors and logarithms met couldn't help him now after all.

Laureen's butler Burkam came to them now. "The hall in the castle is now prepared."

Laureen nodded and linked arms with Zelos. "Well then … We should go."

"Yeah …" Zelos replied quietly.

As they left the temple Zelos looked for Sheena but he couldn't see her anywhere; Ashton and Sebastian either who had followed her.

Even if the meal was delicious and the cooks had probably put their shoulders on the wheel Zelos didn't have much appetite. He just pecked at his food and thought the whole time about Sheena.

"Don't you think that's rude, chosen? You should be thankful that the cooks even cooked for you and your wife. They're still on bad terms with you after all. The same goes for me but I couldn't refuse the wish of your charming wife. Apart from that I'm glad to see that the chosen finally gives up on his debauched life to dedicate himself to the probably most challenging task in life: starting a family," the king said.

That didn't really cheer Zelos up of course, quite the contrary: It dawned to him more painfully that the woman beside him – his wife! – wasn't Sheena, the only woman he wanted to start a family with and who probably didn't want to have anything to do with him any longer. For what anyway? For her there was no hope anymore to have a future with him … If she ever had wanted to have a future with him … The last days he had have the feeling that she could like him a little bit after all but even if … It didn't change the fact that Zelos was married to Laureen now … Bound to her till death … Suddenly the Great Tethe'alla Bridge came to his mind again. It was still there and the thought to hurl himself into the deep sea from there was more tempting than ever …

Suddenly Laureen waved her hand in front of his face.

"Hm?" he asked.

"I just told you that I have unpleasant news for you."

"Go ahead …" Zelos replied sighing.

Laureen blushed slightly. "Well … You know about the wedding night, right?"

Zelos gasped for breath. Not that too! He would rather jump from the bridge right now than to betray Sheena that way as well. "We don't really have to …?"

"No, no!" Laureen answered quickly. "We just have to sleep in the same room. Separated beds are fine as well."

Zelos breathed a sigh of relief. "At least that … I can live with that."

So they went after the meal to the room which had been assigned to them.

:::

Sheena was sobbing while sitting on her bed and prayed that all of this was only a nightmare and that she would soon wake up in Zelos' arms.

Suddenly someone was knocking on her door and Sebastian entered. "Here is your tea, miss."

Sebastian took great care of her. After she had cried her eyes out on his shoulder for hours he had offered her to make tea to calm down so that she could sleep through the night. Though she probably would fall asleep due to exhaustion anyway.

"Thank you, Sebastian."

"Be careful, it's hot," Sebastian warned. After that he played obviously nervous with his suit.

"What's the matter, Sebastian?" Sheena asked.

The butler sighed. "Laureen's servants have returned just now. They have helped cleaning up the castle … And they told me that the chosen and his … and the lady … well …"

"Just tell me. It won't kill me … I hope …"

"They stay the night in a room in the castle."

If this piece of news hurt Sheena she tried not to show it – but it didn't really work. "Well … That's part of it, right? That's no big surprise …" The tears came out again but she wiped them away quickly. It would be of no use to shed unnecessary tears.

It was strange indeed … If somebody would've told her a week ago that she would cry because Zelos married another woman she would've laughed at that person … How much could change in a week …

"When you drunk up your tea you should sleep, miss," Sebastian said and gave her a compassionate look before he left.

Sheena followed Sebastian's advice and fell asleep soon. Again she had a dream …

:::

Laureen heard how Zelos tossed and turned for quite a while until he was finally breathing quietly – he finally fell asleep.

Laureen sighed and got an object out of her bag. She walked towards Zelos' bed and watched him for a while.

"I'm sorry, Zelos … But I don't have a choice if I want to save Keen …" She raised the object which twinkled in the moonlight.

It was a knife.

:::

It was the same dream Sheena already had when Zelos was suffering from the virus brachycerarum, it differed just a little bit. She wasn't sitting next to Zelos' bed, Zelos was only sleeping and wasn't ill. Besides, the place was different, it wasn't Zelos' mansion anymore and she could now see the person who had send her away in the last dream. It was Laureen. She had a knife in her hand and was holding it above Zelos.

Sheena woke up drenched in sweat.

'_Zelos!'_ was the only thing she was thinking. She jumped up quickly, threw on a jacket and rushed out of the mansion towards the castle. She didn't doubt even a second that the dream had been some kind of vision. She just hoped that reality wouldn't end like the last dream.

:::

The knife dashed downwards and it were only mere seconds until it would reach Zelos' body.

But then Zelos suddenly grabbed Laureens wrist and stopped the knife. "I thought that someday a woman would kill me in my sleep but I didn't knew that it would be my own wife in the wedding night," he said.

"Zelos … I …" Laureen stammered.

"You don't do this because you want to, right? Somebody pressures you."

Laureen looked depressed at the ground. She was quiet for a while, then she said: "I'll explain everything to you but first I have to … make some arrangements …"

Zelos released her and Laureen began to draw the curtains and lock the door. After that she sat down on her bed and took a deep breath. As she wanted to start to explain everything someone knocked on the door.

"Zelos! Zelos, please open the door!"

"Sheena?" Zelos asked confused. He wanted to open the door but Laureen stopped him.

"Don't do it, please! She could be one of them!"

"One of them? Laureen, I don't know what you mean but Sheena is certainly not one of them. One can trust her."

"Really?" Laureen didn't seem to be fully convinced.

"I would entrust my life to her," Zelos replied.

"Zelos, open that damn door!" Sheena sounded desperate.

"Very well …" Laureen said and Zelos opened the door.

Sheena hugged him rapturously. "You're okay … I'm glad … You have to watch out for her, she wants to kill you!" She pointed at Laureen.

"I noticed that as well," Zelos replied.

Sheena now saw the knife that was lying on the ground and looked at Laureen. "You …! If you lay even a single finger on him …!"

Zelos stopped her before she could attack Laureen. "Calm down, Sheena. She didn't try to kill me because she wanted to; someone pressures her. She wanted to explain everything to me when you came."

"Really?" Sheena was still wary of Laureen. "Well, then spit it out!"

Laureen sighed and brushed her green hair behind her ear. "Everything actually began when my mother died … After that my father changed and the only thing that still meant something to was money, nothing but money … He would do everything for money. He would sell his own soul, no, even sell the soul of every person as long as he would benefit from it … He's a bastard. I should've left him a long time ago … But he's still my father … And that's the reason why I stayed with him although he has become obnoxious."

"And what has this to do with your assassination attempt on Zelos?" Sheena asked impatiently.

"A few days ago my father showed me the agreement he and Zelos' parents have signed years ago. I was shocked … I couldn't possibly marry someone I didn't love … Even less because Keen had secretly proposed to me the day before and I had said yes … So I said to my father that I wouldn't do that but he blackmailed me …" Laureen explained with a trembling voice.

"With the war between Flanoir and Meltokio that would break out then I assume" Zelos said.

Sheena looked at Laureen and then at Zelos. "That's why you had to marry her?"

Zelos nodded. "I can't allow such a bloodshed …"

Laureen was sobbing. "No … I made the whole thing with the war up to get you to marry me … My father … and these people as well … blackmailed me with something other … They hold Keen captive."

* * *

So, Laureen's not the one at fault either ... She has really a terrible father. *sigh*

Keen - there's the English word I used as a name. xD But as I chose that name I didn't really know it was an English word. xD So there's no deeper meaning in it. ^^

Well, who is 'them'? And why do they want to see Zelos dead? As to why they used Laureen ... I don't know either. xD

To be continued ...


	16. The Chorior's attack

I'm so sorry! This time it took me extremly long to translate ... I hope you haven't forgotten half of the story yet. I'll try to update the next chapter a little bit faster but I can't promise anything.

**To silent romantic:** Yeah, Laureen can really be pitied ... The kids are fine. ^^ They were sleeping until now.

**To Moonlight M3lody:** Yeah, that's right. ^^ But as I said the name has no deeper meaning in this story. Laureen's father? Well, his name isn't that important because it's no person one knows from the game. But nevertheless you will find out his name in one of the next chapters. Oh, Laureen's father will get punished by fate but unfortunately not in this story. xD

I hope you can still enjoy this chapter. I'm totally sorry it took so long. =(

* * *

**Chapter 16: The Chorior's attack  
**

Laureen was sobbing continuously and Sheena could imagine very well how she felt. If Zelos' life was at stake she would do everything as well … Even kill. But as a kunoichi it would be much easier for her than for Laureen.

"But I don't quite understand … Why did they want you to kill me?" Zelos asked.

"These people … I think they call themselves 'Chorior' … mentioned a prophecy …"

Zelos and Sheena looked confused at the other one.

"I think they want to kill you because of this prophecy … Do you know something about it?" Laureen asked while looking at Zelos.

"Well … Not much. A friend of ours is mixed up with this prophecy but I didn't know I have something to do with it as well …"

"Obviously you do … Anyway, they paid my father pretty much money so that I kill you … But my father wanted of course to gain even more and insisted on me marrying you before I kill you …"

"Hmm …" Sheena said. "But why did they want you to do this job? Why didn't they do it themselves or at least hired a professional assassin? It's not like I don't trust your ability to kill, though …" Sheena's eyes narrowed and as if to protect him she moved a little closer to Zelos.

"They didn't want Zelos to find out about them. Besides they had to do something … I overheard something … It seems like they pursue a woman because she has something that could be dangerous for them …" Laureen explained.

"Ah, that's so confusing!" Zelos sighed and walked towards the window.

"Zelos, maybe that's not such a good idea!" Laureen said worried. "They watch me and if they see you they'll know that I didn't done my job …"

"They will see tomorrow morning anyway that I'm still alive … So there's no use in hiding it. Apart from that I want to know more about this group. And I would like it better if we went back to my mansion. Sebastian, Ashton and Lilly are there alone and I'm worried that nobody could protect them in the worst case," Zelos replied.

"That's right! We have to hurry back!" Sheena agreed.

"But … what about Keen? What if they do something to him?" Laureen looked worried.

"Do you know where they hold Keen captive?" Sheena wanted to know.

"In Flanoir … In the catacombs underneath the church. But one needs a key to get in there …"

"We will do something about it and free him. But first of all we should head back. Somehow I have a bad feeling," Zelos said and both women nodded.

So they left the castle and sneaked off to Zelos' mansion to be on the safe side. Everything was quiet and dark.

Zelos exhaled relieved. "Seems like everything's alright …"

"But appearances are deceiving!" a voice suddenly exclaimed and the next moment the three were surrounded by a handful men. They wore grey cloaks with white lines and some sort of sensor glasses which probably allowed them to analyze their enemies down to the smallest detail.

"Let me guess … You're the Chorior?" Zelos asked and he and Sheena pulled their weapons and moved together so that they had Laureen between them and could protect her.

"Hahaha, Zelos Wilder. So the little mouse decided to better talk than do her job. That's so typical for a woman! One doesn't expect much but in the end one has to do everything themselves …" one of the men who looked a little bit different said. His cloak was white and decorated with dark and light blue lines; apart from that he wore two different earrings. One of them looked like a drop of water the other one like a snowflake. Besides, he seemed to think that he was strong enough and didn't wore sensor glasses. That way they could see his unusual silver eyes which were a little bit creepy. His light blue hair was short and stuck out in every direction. All in all he seemed to be a strange guy who shouldn't be underestimated though.

"Hey, don't open your fat mouth too wide or I'll shut you up!" Sheena exclaimed. She couldn't stand it if someone discriminated women.

"Really, Honey?" the guy asked challenging.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Zelos wanted to know.

"Very well … It won't be of any use for you because you won't have much time to live anymore but I'll tell you my name anyway. I'm Cozid and I'm one of the four Diaos. Because you probably don't know what this is I'll explain it to you. The Diaos are the people of the Chorior who are the best. They're really strong; I'm the best example. In contrast to the simple mob here," he pointed at his men who starred at him indignantly, "we don't fight with simple weapons but I won't tell you more about this. You don't have to know anything. Well … Although we're so super cool and nobody can take us on we're not on top of the Chorior. There's of course our leader but I won't tell you his name. Ok, so now we have talked enough. Unfortunately I'll have to leave now, I have something important to do. See you … or not." Cozid walked towards the door and gave his men a sign whereupon they attacked Zelos and Sheena.

They were too busy with parrying the opposing attacks so that they didn't see that Cozid had suddenly stopped and was now looking at the stairs.

"That's …" he murmured.

"Sir, what …"

Zelos looked now towards the stairs as well and discovered Sebastian with Ashton and Lilly. "Go away! Seek shelter!"

Cozid began to laugh. "Hahaha! Today seems to be a lucky day! Now I find even the boy without having to search! Great!" He walked slowly towards the stairs.

Ashton was too paralyzed to move; Sebastian didn't realize in what danger they were and Zelos and Sheena had their hands full with fighting their enemies so that nobody could stop Cozid.

"Ashton!" Zelos exclaimed. "Run away!"

But the boy couldn't do anything except looking Cozid directly into the eyes. Fear began to show on his face.

"Now tell me where you hid it," Cozid demanded. "Or do you want me to hurt you?"

But still Ashton didn't move. He was paralyzed.

At least Sebastian came to his senses now and wanted to pull the boy away from Cozid but this wasn't necessary anymore because suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared between Ashton and Cozid. The next moment a ninja in blue clothes stood before Ashton and held a knife at Cozid's throat.

Sheena exhaled relieved. A few moments later more ninja appeared and attacked the men in the grey cloaks.

"Who are you?" Cozid growled.

"We're ninjas from Mizuho. You and your men made a big mistake when you attacked our chief. We won't forgive you that easily," Orochi said.

"Heh, as if that bothered us …" Cozid did a back salto and landed in front of the door. "Retreat!"

The ninja tried to stop them but they failed.

"Orochi! I'm so glad you're here … But what are you actually doing here?" Sheena asked.

"We have a mission for you. It's really urgent and you're the only one who can do it," Orochi explained. "And if possible tonight."

"Tonight?" Sheena sighed. "And what do I have to do?"

Orochi looked at Zelos, Laureen, Ashton and Sebastian.

"They can hear it," Sheena said as she understood what Orochi was thinking.

"In Flanoir there is a volcano which is active again. Because of the heat the volcano is radiating the glaciers are slowly melting and the snow water is threatening to flood Flanoir. We hope that you can somehow manage to seal the volcano with Celsius' powers."

"Ha, Flanoir, that's perfect! When we're already there we can also free Keen!" Zelos commented.

"Keen …" Laureen murmured.

"But first of all we have to find a safe place for Laureen," Sheena replied. "The best would be if we bring her to Regal. His Illusion Projector is the best protection she can get."

"We could do that," Orochi offered. "The faster you get to Flanoir the better."

Sheena nodded. "But a few ninjas have to stay here and protect Sebastian and the children."

"No problem," Orochi answered.

"Sebastian, maybe you should put the children in bed again," Zelos told his butler.

He nodded and was already on his way to the children's room as he realized that Ashton wasn't following him which caused him to stop.

The boy had a sullen facial expression. "I'll come with you."

"What? That's too dangerous!" Zelos disagreed.

"I'm not so weak as you think I am!" Ashton said. "I won't be in your way and you don't have to protect me!"

"Well, obviously we had to. Or do you want to make me believe that I didn't protect you a minute ago?" Orochi asked.

"I was just … a little bit surprised … Otherwise this guy wouldn't have seen daylight again," Ashton replied in a convinced voice.

"Ooooof course," Zelos commented unbelieving. "Listen, these guys can't be thrown off their guards with some simple pranks. They're able to kill you in less than a second, just like that and you don't even realize it! So banish the thought of coming with us. You're staying here."

But Ashton still looked determined and got something out of his pocket. It was a blue-silver coin which he threw into the air.

"Do you think flipping the coin would change our minds? How often do I have to say this? You're staying here!" Zelos exclaimed. He got slowly angry.

But Ashton didn't pay attention to him and muttered quietly a few words. "Holy beast, awaken!"

Suddenly a bright light emanated from the coin which was still in mid air and everyone had to cover their eyes. When the coin finally landed on the ground there was a bang and the light disappeared.

However, there was no coin on the ground anymore. But instead a full-grown blue-silver striped tiger was standing in front of them and gave off a huge roar.

* * *

Well, Cozid seems to be a guy who discriminates women. But actually ... Well, somehow he changed in the sequel. xD But it's ok if you don't like him here, he's not really a nice guy after all. xD

Obviously Cozid wants something from Ashton. But what? And will Sheena be able to seal the volcano with Celsius' powers? And will they be really able to free Keen? And what about the tiger that appeared?

To be continued ... (Even if it may take some while ... Don't lose hope! ^^)


	17. Zadorateshimoboloki

Hey, here I am again. Pretty fast this time, huh? ^^ I hope I can keep up this tempo.

**To silent romantic:** Don't worry, I haven't disappeared. ^^ Long winded, hm ... You will see. ^^ Thank you. I hope you'll like this chapter as well. =)

Don't be confused by the title, you will understand soon.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Zadorateshimoboloki  
**

"What the hell …?" Zelos murmured while looking unbelieving at the tiger in front of him.

"That's Zadorateshimoboloki," Ashton said.

"Err … What?" Orochi asked confused.

The others looked at Ashton as well as if he spoke another language.

Ashton sighed and shook his head as if it was a thing every little child would understand. "That's his name. Zadorateshimoboloki. I'll say it one more time so you can write it down: Za-do-ra-te-shi-mo-bo-lo-ki. The name is Ryunish." He still saw question marks in the faces. „Ryunish is a very old language … Anyway, his name means something like ‚Where the light of the moon meets the waves'. An allusion to his blue-silver fur."

"Uh-huh …" Orochi said and then whispered to Sheena: "How old is this boy actually?"

"Ask me something else …" Sheena whispered back. "He looks as if he's four or five but sometimes I have the feeling he's much older …"

"Not only you …" Orochi replied.

"And … what can this Zado-what-do-I-know do?" Zelos asked the boy.

"Zadorateshimoboloki!" Ashton corrected him indignantly. „Call him Zadora if you can remember that better … Well, like you can see he's a tiger. He'll protect me. He's as fast as light, as strong as …

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough descriptions … You're still staying here," Zelos said determined.

The tiger was growling threateningly and Zelos backed off a little bit.

Ashton smiled. It was a disturbing smile which Zelos didn't like. He knew the boy good enough by now to know that he had already lost.

"Ok. Then go without me. Zad and I will follow you."

Zelos sighed. "You'll never give up, right?"

"No," Ashton answered grinning.

"How did you call this tiger anyway?" Sheena wanted to know. "You threw this coin but then …"

"The coin is some kind of … container for him. He's the coin more or less … I throw it into the air, summon him and he appears," Ashton explained.

"Cool. So I could do that as well?" Zelos asked.

Ashton shook his head. "Only special persons can do that."

"What special persons?" Laureen asked.

"Dunno. I, for one can do it."

"It doesn't matter anyway … We should go now," Sheena commented. She was starring at Zadora the whole time.

Why did she have the feeling she had seen such a creature already once? Why didn't the tiger frighten her but was rather calming her down? Why did she have the feeling she had found something she had lost long ago?

She was startled out of her thoughts when suddenly a whining could be heard. Laureen's dog and her puppies where hiding behind a vase and seemed to be frightened by the tiger.

"Ah, my dog shave to come with me! And what about all my servants? They have to come along, too … Where are they anyway? Shouldn't they have been woken up by all the noises?" Laureen asked confused.

"They fled when they heard the noises," Sebastian explained.

Laureen sighed. "Even Burkam?"

Sebastian nodded.

"Such cowards …" she murmured. "Very well … At least my dogs are still here … But I'm afraid as long as the tiger is here they won't move a millimeter."

So Ashton called Zadora back by touching him on the forehead and murmuring: "Your help is no longer needed." The next second Zadora was a coin again which Ashton put in his pocket.

"Good." Laureen elicited the dogs from behind the vase and then walked towards the door where she stopped one more time.

"Ah, right, Zelos … I have some news that will make you happy. Our marriage isn't valid. The priest that married us is a good friend of mine and no real priest," Laureen explained smiling.

"What? That means we're not married?" Zelos asked slow-witted.

"That's correct," Laureen answered giggling. Then she took off her ring and gave it to Zelos. "You surely need it someday." She winked at Sheena and then left the house with some ninjas and her dogs.

"Couldn't she have said so earlier? Does she actually know how much I suffered?" Zelos asked. He still couldn't believe that he was never married with Laureen. Now nothing stood between him and Sheena anymore.

"Does it matter now?" Sheena asked happily while hugging him.

Orochi cleared his throat. "I don't like to disturb you but we still have a mission to fulfill."

"You're coming with us?" Sheena wanted to know.

"Yes."

Sheena nodded. They flew with the Rheairds to Flanoir after they had made sure that enough ninjas were in the house to protect Sebastian and Lilly.

:::

The four persons who were kneeling in front of some kind of throne were barely illuminated by the pale light.

"We should hurry before the prophecy is fulfilled … The Moon Healer steadily develops her powers and continues to do her job. And regarding the Sun Healer … He will recognize his powers soon as well and go on a journey. Same with the Star Healer," a voice that were coming from the person on the throne said.

"The Sun Healer was already as good as dead … But unfortunately some incidents occurred …" one of the four who was kneeling in front of the throne explained.

"You already told us that, Cozid. But still we have to kill one of them. When even one of them dies the prophecy can't be fulfilled. We have to find out who the Earth Healer is so that we can stop her before she releases the Nature Spirits."

"But, Milord, the Nature Spirits can't be released until the Holy Child is awake anyway," a female voice stated.

"That is correct, Nariko. But better safe than sorry. And who knows when they will find the Holy Child and wake them up …" the lord explained.

"They can only be awakened by their paladin …" a quiet childish voice said.

"Same with the Tainted Child who can only be awakened by you, Retisa."

"Then we should find them quickly," another male voice stated. "Ah, that makes me so sad that I would like to sing a little song …"

"Oh, please not, Edoph!" Cozid pleaded. "How often do I have to tell you that you can't sing?"

"I _can_ sing!" Edoph replied offended. He wanted to start singing but the lord stopped him.

"We have no time for this. Time is short. We have only two years left at most to find the Tainted Child so begin searching. And if possible kill one of the Prophecy's Servants."

"Yes, milord," the four Diaos said simultaneously.

"Ah, and Cozid? What about your mission?"

"We killed the woman but she didn't have it with her. The boy has it probably," Cozid answered.

"We need this bracelet. So take care of it."

"As you wish, milord."

:::

"What did these guys want from me?" Zelos wondered.

"Maybe you are in debt?" Orochi suggested. "Or they simply have a bone to pick with you."

"I have never seen these guys before … Apart from that this Cozid guy seemed to be interested in Ashton … Do you know the guy?" Zelos wanted to know from Ashton.

The boy shook his head.

"Hmm … It's all very strange …" Zelos murmured.

"We're almost in Flanoir. What should we do first? Seal the volcano or rescue Keen?" Sheena asked.

"The volcano is more important," Orochi replied.

"But who knows what they will do with Keen. I think his rescue is as important as sealing the volcano. We owe Laureen that much," Zelos commented.

"What is one single worth life compared to a whole city?" Orochi retorted.

"Guys, that doesn't help much," Sheena interfered.

"We split up. Uncle Zel, Zad and I will rescue Keen and aunt Sheen and Oro seal the volcano," Ashton suggested. (Do you know Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin? Every time I read 'Oro' I have Kenshin on my mind xD)

The three grown-ups looked at him in confusion but then agreed because it seemed to be the most reasonable solution.

While Zelos and Ashton flew directly to Flanoir, Sheena and Orochi adjourned to the volcano. Above it there was a thick, black cloud of smoke. The closer they came the warmer it got and they saw the amount of snow water which had created its own river bed that was growing closer to Flanoir.

"Well, I hope that Celsius' powers are enough to seal the volcano …" Sheena said.

* * *

Zadorateshimoboloki ... Pretty unique name, right? ^^

So Ashton will come along ... You will see if that is a good or bad idea. ^^

Finally the four Diaos and their lord have been introduced. Though you won't get to know the name of the lord until the sequel although it's not a person you already know. And don't be confused by the other names, I'm sure you will be able to remember them soon, especially Edoph. xD

So they split up ... What will happen next? Will Zelos and Ashton free Keen? Will Sheena be able to seal the volcano with Celsius' help?

To be continued ...


	18. One disaster after another

Hey, here I am again! ^^ I will try to update every Tuesday now. It should be no problem if I translate every day a little bit.

So, enjoy the new chapter. =)

* * *

**Chapter 18: One disaster after another  
**

Zelos and Ashton were trudging through the snow of Flanoir. Everything was quiet but that was no wonder considering how late it was.

"Do you actually know where we have to go?" Ashton asked after a while.

"Keen is hold captive in the catacombs underneath the church. Did you forget that?"

"No. But don't we need a key?"

"Oh … That's right …"

Ashton sighed. "And you don't have a clue where we can find it?"

Zelos stopped. "Err … No …"

Ashton looked at him unbelievingly. "And how are we supposed to rescue this Keen if we don't even know where we can get the key?"

"Hmm … Ah, I have an idea! We'll look for Laureen's father and squeeze him for information … Then we'll definitely find the key for the catacombs!" Zelos stated in a convinced voice while moving on.

"And do you at least know where Laureen's father is living, you wise guy?"

Zelos stopped again. "Err …"

Ashton sighed. "I knew it …"

"It's probably the largest building here," Zelos answered.

After a while they were standing in front of the largest building of Flanoir.

"Is this guy a saint or why are we standing in front of the church?" Ashton asked.

Zelos rubbed his head. "Well … Maybe it isn't the largest building … but the second-largest."

"If you haven't noticed it until now: The other buildings are pretty similar in size," Ashton objected.

Zelos thought about it. "Hmm … Argh, why do I always have to think about something? What about you? Why don't you prove yourself helpful and make suggestions, heh?"

Ashton looked at him unimpressed. "Then I call Zad. His senses are pretty keen and he can probably smell the amount of Gald this guy has collected." Ashton threw the coin into the air, mumbled a few words and the tiger appeared.

Zelos starred at him unbelievingly. "Why didn't you do this earlier?"

Ashton grinned. "Because it's fun to pick on you."

"Is it still fun if a life is on the line? Now order your pussycat to search for this guy!"

Zadora hissed at Zelos but Ashton calmed him down and whispered something into his ear whereupon Zadora rushed away.

Zelos and Ashton followed him as fast as they could and were soon standing in front of a downright ramshackle hut.

"His house looks pretty shabby for him having so much Gald …" Ashton remarked.

"He's probably too stingy to use his Gald …" Zelos assumed. "Let's go."

:::

Meanwhile, Sheena and Orochi struggled through the muddy snow and still conquerable snow water rivers towards the volcano. The closer they came the warmer it got and the more the air smelled like sulfur. Well, to be more correct the gas was sulfur dioxide because sulfur itself had no smell. (At least this much is left from my chemistry lessons xD)

It was hard to breathe because all the ash was in the air.

"That's enough," Sheena coughed. "We're … close enough … If I … If I can't do anything from here … we have no other choice … than to evacuate the citizens of Flanoir … before the volcano erupts …"

"I understand," Orochi answered. It was easier for him to breath because of his mask. (Although Kuchinawa is the one with the mask … Damn it xD)

Sheena coughed again, then she summoned Celsius. "I call upon the disciple of everlasting ice. I summon thee, come, Celsius!"

In front of them the air seemed to flicker and a blue-white light began to form slowly. It was pretty pale and seemed to try to get stronger.

"Celsius has difficulties … to appear … It's too hot …" Sheena remarked.

"And if you summon her a bit farther away?"

"She still would have … to come here … to do something … Besides, it's already … too late. I already … summoned her."

The next moment the light got stronger and finally the Summon Spirit of Ice appeared.

"What happened here? Where is the comfortable cold that has usually welcomed me here?" Celsius asked exhausted. "It's so hot … I can barely maintain my form …"

"Celsius, this volcano … is active again. You have to … seal it with your power … so that Flanoir won't be flooded by the snow water … or is destroyed by the lava …" Sheena said.

"I … can't …"

"What?" Sheena and Orochi exclaimed simultaneously.

"I'm too weak … It's so hot … I have no power …" the Summon Spirit hawed and for a moment Celsius flickered.

"Can't we strengthen you power somehow … so that you can seal the volcano?" Sheena asked.

However, Celsius disappeared that moment because she couldn't maintain her form anymore. But Sheena heard her quiet answer: "Celsius' Tear …"

"Of course …" Sheena whispered. "The flower which can freeze everything … But where can we find it? We sold the one we had back then …"

"Where did you find it?" Orochi wanted to know.

"In Celsius' temple … But we saw only that single flower … What if there was only one?"

"If that's the case … Flanoir won't exist much longer. So let's hope there exists another one. Come on, let's go."

So Sheena and Orochi went to the Temple of Ice where they hoped to find Celsius' Tear.

:::

"Celsius' Tear, hmm …" a black-haired man who had watched everything murmured. He wore a pretty shabby black cloak and seemed not very noble but in his eyes was a clarity that suggested immense knowledge. "There exists only one … But who knows? Sometimes miracles may happen …" The man laughed quietly and clicked his fingers.

He sighed and walked away. He had still more important things to do. He had to watch over the course of the prophecy he had written long time ago by command of a higher might. He was the restless prophet who was damned since that fateful day to live forever until the prophecy was fulfilled or chaos reigned over the world.

That was his fate, the purpose of his life.

:::

One could have reckoned with an alarm system. With a few dangerous looking watchdogs as well. But not with the things that awaited Zelos and Ashton inside of the shabby looking hut which didn't look shabby at all on the inside.

Shortly after Zelos and Ashton had picked the lock of the door a shrill alarm resounded which Zelos had fortunately soon cut off. Then they heard the barking of angry watchdogs but Zadora's sight was enough to make them whine. However, after that the real alarm system switched on.

Zelos had never thought it was possible but right now he would've been glad if it were only Regal's Illusion Projector. What the two awaited was far more unpleasant.

They were shot with arrows from every side, one false step and a trap door opened underneath them and as they finally reached the hallway which lead down they had to realize that a giant stone ball chased them.

The whole thing made them feel as if they were in a very old ruin and not in the hut of some cash-hungry duke.

At the end of the hallway they turned quickly to the side and exhaled with relief. The stone ball rolled further and finally ended up in a hole in the ground which closed after that again. But of course they got their hopes up too soon. From above a lattice fell down on them and the next moment they were trapped like common thieves.

Only now they had the time to look around. They recognized some kind of office. Slowly the chair in front of the desk turned around and they saw a corpulent man with a bald head who smoked a cigar with pleasure. He stood up and walked towards them.

"Well, well … If that isn't the chosen Zelos Wilder. You look good. But a bit too lively for my taste. So my daughter spared your life. I should've known it. She could never harm a fly," the duke sighed. "And who is that? A child … How pathetic. Can't the chosen afford soldiers any longer?"

Ashton looked at him angrily and tried to kick him but the duke dodged.

"How cute! You brought your pet along," the duke joked while looking at Zadora.

Zadora hissed wrathfully but he couldn't harm the duke either.

"Where is the key to the catacombs?" Zelos asked calmly.

"Of what use is it to you? You won't live long enough to do something with this information. But on the other hand … What damage does it do? The key is in my safe which is secured by a 10-digit code with numbers and letters."

"And you don't have by chance the kindness to tell us the code before we die?" Zelos asked.

Laureen's father laughed. "No, definitely not! I won't reveal it even if you will meet your deaths in a second."

"What a pity," Zelos sighed.

"Have fun while dying," the duke said and pushed a button underneath the desk whereupon the ground beneath Zelos, Ashton and Zadora opened. The three of them fell into a dark hole.

* * *

Yeah, cliffhanger. xD I love cliffhanger by the way. xD

So, will Sheena and Orochi find Celsius' Tear? And what about the mysterious prophet? (He's very important by the way xD)

Did Zelos, Ashton and Zadora die? (Well, ok, that's pretty unlikely xD But they are in a desperate situation xD)

To be continued ...


	19. In deep water

As I promised, here is the next chapter. Enjoy it! =)

* * *

**Chapter 19: In deep water  
**

The Temple of Ice was far enough away from the volcano, so there was still an appropriate cold temperature. If it had been different it could've reduced the chance to find Celsius' Tear here.

Sheena and Orochi climbed a little mound and had to be careful because it was partly covered in ice.

"Frozen surfaces … The enemy of every ninja no matter how swift he is," Orochi remarked sighing.

"More like the enemy of every person," Sheena corrected as she had reached the peak of the mound.

"Where to now?" Orochi asked.

"We have to go outside through this little entrance there." She went ahead and noticed that the small way which led to another entrance had gotten even smaller. To cross it was a difficult task. "Damn …"

"Don't tell me we have to cross that …" Orochi said while looking from the way to Sheena in turn.

"Yes …"

"Isn't there another way?"

"As far as I know there isn't … Come, we can do it. We just have to be careful," Sheena tried to reassure him and herself.

"You've got some nerve …" Orochi murmured before he huddled against the wall like Sheena and slowly moved across the small ledge.

A few times it crumbled dangerously beneath their feet but fortunately they managed to get to the entrance. Again in the cave they couldn't believe their luck: In front of them there was really Celsius' Tear. Illuminated by the light which came through a hole in the ceiling it seemed almost sacred.

Sheena got on the Penguin Gloves, which she luckily still had, and picked carefully the flower while thanking the might which was responsible for them finding the flower. After that she put Celsius' Tear in her bag.

"Well … I want to save myself the troublesome return path. I will summon Celsius so that she creates a slide of ice which brings us downwards," Sheena said and Orochi exhaled with relief.

:::

Ashton felt something wet on his face and growled annoyed. "Go away … I wanna sleep …" But it didn't stop so he finally opened his eyes irritated and saw Zadora in front of him who looked worriedly at him. Ashton then remembered what had happened. He looked around, finally saw Zelos and woke him up.

"Already time for breakfast?" Zelos asked tiredly.

"I think we have to do without breakfast for a while if we don't find a way out of here soon," Ashton remarked.

Zelos rubbed his eyes and then remembered as well what had happened. "How come we're not dead yet?" He looked up but couldn't see much more than darkness. Nevertheless, he was sure that they had fallen for quite a while. The impact should've actually smashed all their bones but still they seemed to be fine.

"Hmm … I remember that we were surrounded by a strange light while we were falling … Maybe it slowed us down and that's why we're not hurt?" Ashton assumed.

"Possible … Well, who cares. At least we're still alive. But now we have to find a way out of here," Zelos said. "Hmm … I could fly towards the ceiling but I'm pretty sure that the hole isn't there anymore …"

"Fly?" Ashton asked confused.

Zelos remembered that Ashton didn't know him being an angel. And actually it would've been better if it had stayed that way … But now it was probably too late anyway. So Zelos sighed and let his wings appear.

"Wow!" Ashton exclaimed amazed. "What are you, an angel?"

"Yeah. But not everybody has to know that, understood?" Zelos asked.

"Sure. But I've always imagined angels different … Somehow … more sacred and less idiotic," Ashton remarked with a huge grin on his face.

"I've always imagined little children less annoying as well …" Zelos murmured quietly while letting his wings disappear again. He examined the walls, hoping that he would find a door or something similar.

"Can't you take your wings out again? It's so dark in here …" Ashton said.

"Are you frightened by the dark?" Zelos asked grinning.

"N-No! But how are we supposed to find an exit when you can barely see your hand in front of your face? And your wings emit at least some light …" Ashton replied.

"It isn't really that dark. I've already seen darker places. But I don't mind. If you feel better then." So Zelos let his wings appear again and continued searching.

Ashton and Zadora helped him. Eventually, it was the tiger who found something due to his keen senses. It was a little hole which looked too perfect to have a natural origin.

Frowning, Zelos put his hand into the hole and felt a little button which he pushed. Something he shouldn't have done because the next moment an opening appeared above them and water came out of it.

"Damn it!" Zelos cursed. That's the last thing we needed!"

"What do we do now?" Ashton asked worriedly.

"We still have to find a way out of here, what else? But we have to hurry before we're in deep water!" Zelos exclaimed while hectically tapping the wall to find a hollow.

Ashton followed his example and Zadora continued sniffing for an exit.

:::

Sheena and Orochi were standing in front of the volcano again and Sheena summoned Celsius one more time. The Summon Spirit took its time again but when Celsius had finally appeared Sheena gave her Celsius' Tear.

"Oh, much better! Ah, this comfortable cold …" Celsius sighed satisfied.

"Celsius, can you seal the volcano now?" Sheena asked a little bit impatient.

The Summon Spirit nodded, put the ice flower in its hair and concentrated then. Celsius put her hands into the sky and the next moment a blizzard rushed towards the volcano. It took quite a while and it cost Celsius much power but finally the two ninja could watch how the volcano slowly froze.

Celsius collapsed exhausted. "It will last for a few centuries … I almost forgot how tiring it is every time …"

"Does that mean it wasn't the first time you did this?" Sheena asked confused.

"Yes. It wasn't the first time today. Do you need me any longer, summoner?"

"No, you can …" She couldn't even finish her sentence before Celsius disappeared.

"Phew … Flanoir is rescued for now," Orochi sighed.

"Yeah. We should hurry and help Zelos and Ashton," Sheena said and Orochi nodded.

So the two went to Flanoir.

:::

"Damn it!" Zelos cursed in a loud voice.

The water had already reached his knees and Ashton's hip; Zadora had to swim. They still hadn't found a way out.

Ashton gradually panicked. "I don't wanna die yet …"

"You won't, provided that you keep searching and don't mope!" Zelos snarled at him. He hated such stressful situations. Why did he always have to get into such?

"It's hopeless … There's no way out …" the little boy murmured.

"Stop whining!" Zelos reprimanded him while rubbing his temples. He could feel a headache coming on, it couldn't get any better.

:::

The prophet just sighed while looking into his little crystal ball which helped him to watch Zelos, Ashton and Zadora. "You can't take your eyes off of them for a second …"

He was standing at the entrance to Flanoir in the shape of an old man. He was probably the only human in the whole world who still knew about the art of metamorphosis. If one could still count him as a human … Many persons would probably call him a walking wonder, for example a certain white haired half-elf woman who has on the way to the Latheon Gorge at the moment.

The prophet smiled slightly. Yes, she would probably call him like that if they met someday. And that they would meet was certain. But that was in the far future. First of all he had to rescue Zelos, Ashton and Zadora before they drowned. He already had a plan …

:::

In Flanoir the people seemed to already have realized that the city had been saved because the citizens celebrated loudly and the first drunks staggered through the city.

"And they don't even have the slightest clue who or what saved them …" Orochi remarked a little bit angry.

Sheena just shrugged. "That's unimportant. We have to find Zelos and Ashton."

"Where should we actually start searching?" Orochi asked.

"Maybe they're already in the catacombs underneath the church … At least they seem to be in a building; otherwise one could definitely see Zelos' redhead somewhere," Sheena said.

"I'm sorry, I heard what you just said by accident … You're looking for a swordsman with long red hair and a little black haired boy who have a strange tiger with them?" an older man approached them.

"Yeah … Did you see them?" Sheena asked surprised. She couldn't help staring at him. He somehow seemed special but Sheena couldn't tell why she had this feeling.

"They entered this house," the man told them while pointing at a shabby little hut.

"What did they want there?" Orochi asked confused.

"This hut belongs to Duke Renu Vilid. Maybe it was relating to business," the man said.

"Do you know if our friends are still in there?" Sheena wanted to know.

"I didn't saw them come out. They're probably still inside."

"Thank you for your help," Sheena replied. She wanted to go to the hut with Orochi but the old man held her back.

"The duke has a pretty filed security system. It's possible that your friends fell victim to it."

"Then we have to be especially careful," Orochi remarked.

"I know a secret passage … You should use it to get safely to your friends," the man said. "Come with me, I'll lead you." He walked towards the hut.

Sheena and Orochi shortly looked at each other before following the man. He lead them past the hut to a little shed. It looked just like a normal shed when they entered it.

"And where is this secret passage?" Orochi asked impatiently.

"Have patience, my young friend," the old man replied while knocking with his cane on the ground once. On this spot a trap door suddenly opened and the old man moved to the side.

"Ladies first," he said smiling.

Puzzled, Sheena was still looking at the spot where from her point of view a few seconds ago still had been normal ground. Ninja were trained to spot trap doors and similar irregularities on the ground, walls and ceilings and in that's why she was pretty sure that there hadn't been a trap door before the old man had knocked with his cane on this spot. A glance at Orochi made her realize that he was puzzled as well.

Sheena looked at the old man again who still smiled and decided that he was not so normal as he looked. Then she stepped down the ladder which was underneath the trap door.

* * *

So Flanoir is saved for now but Zelos, Ashton and Zadora are still in trouble ... Will Sheena and Orochi be able to safe them? And what about the strange old man? (Well, I think it's pretty obvious who he is xD)

To be continued ...


	20. Fighting for the survival

Hi there! Here's the next chapter. ^^

**To Moonlight M3lody:** Thank you for you're review. =) I'm not mad at you, don't worry. ^^

Yeah, I didn't want to make it too difficult with the flower. That's why they found it pretty fast.

Well, it will take some chapters until Sebastian and Lilly will appear again, I'm sorry. ^^"

Well, the hut is only shabby from the outside so that nobody would assume that some rich duke is living in there.

Well ... That's a good point. xD I somehow haven't thought about them ... At least Yuan should've noticed that something's going on in Flanoir ... Well, maybe he came to the conclusion that only Sheena could save Flanoir and talked to the people from Mizuho ... And maybe he told the others that Sheena would solve the problem. xD By the way, Yuan, Lloyd and Colette will appear later as well but it will take quite a while ...

Yeah, Zadora is cool ^^ But unfortunately I forget animals too easily ... That's why he won't appear that much in the sequel. ^^"

Well, enjoy the next chapter. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 20: Fighting for the survival  
**

The water had risen even further and by now it was reaching Zelos' chest. Ashton had to hold on to Zadora as if he was a swimming piece of wood because the boy couldn't swim.

"Unless a miracle happens we're done for …" Zelos murmured. By now he wasn't quite so confident anymore that they would find an exit. He just wished he could see Sheena one last time before he drowned.

The water kept rising and finally Zelos had to swim as well.

"What will happen when the water reaches the ceiling?" Ashton asked.

"We will drown, what else?" Zelos replied tiredly.

"Yeah, but sometime they have to drain the water …" Ashton said.

"But who knows when they will do it … I doubt that we can hold our breath that long."

Ashton looked depressed and laid his head on Zadora's back. "Mom …"

Zelos pitied the boy. He probably missed his mother really much … He suddenly remembered something Sheila had said to him before she left.

"_Please take good care of them, Zelos … They … are more important than my own life."_

What would she say if she knew that her son was on the verge of drowning?

Zelos had to make sure that at least Ashton survived, he owned Sheila that much. But how was he supposed to save the boy? There was no exit, no little hole, only the opening from where the water was coming …

Zelos had an idea. As soon as the room was wholly filled with water there probably wouldn't come any more water. So one could swim through the opening until one came out somewhere.

"Ashton, listen to me. I want you to transform Zadora back into a coin," Zelos said.

"But then I can't hold on to anything anymore!" Ashton protested.

"You will now have to learn how to swim if you want to survive. Don't worry, I'm here," Zelos tried to calm him down.

Hesitating, Ashton obeyed and transformed Zadora back into a coin. Almost the same moment he sank but Zelos brought him back to the surface.

:::

In the meantime, Sheena, Orochi and the old man were in a dark hallway which had to lie deep underneath the earth. The man walked ahead and apart from the steady 'thunk' his crane was making nothing could be heard.

"How come you know from this passage?" Sheena asked curiously.

"I know so much and still not enough," the man answered mysteriously. He stopped shortly and looked at something which Orochi and Sheena couldn't see. "We have to hurry." Suddenly he started running and didn't seem old and shaky anymore at all.

The more time passed the stranger the old man seemed to be.

"Who are you actually?" Orochi asked gasping because the man was running pretty fast.

"I have many names. You can call me as you like," he replied. He didn't seem to be out of breath even a tiny bit. "What about … Zolkit?"

"And why do we have to hurry so much, Zolkit?" Sheena wanted to know.

"Your friends are in trouble."

Sheena wanted to ask why he knew this but then she thought that she probably wouldn't get a satisfying answer anyway. So she saved her breath for running.

:::

The water had almost reached the ceiling and Zelos had finally managed to teach Ashton how to swim.

"Listen, when the water has reached the ceiling you swim to the opening from where the water is coming out and swim through it, understood?" Zelos asked.

Ashton nodded. "What about you? You will follow me, right?"

Zelos smiled. "Of course."

In truth, he couldn't follow him. He wouldn't fit through the opening. But if he told it Ashton he probably wouldn't swim through the opening because he didn't want to leave him behind. That's why Zelos lied.

As the water had finally reached the ceiling Ashton and Zelos plunged and swam towards the opening which would hopefully be Ashton's rescue. The boy shortly looked at Zelos before Zelos construed him to hurry. The boy disappeared into the opening and Zelos followed him with his eyes until he couldn't see him anymore. Then he closed his eyes.

'_I'm sorry, Sheena … It seems like fate doesn't want us to be together …'_ he thought before he hadn't any breath left and slowly sank to the ground of the room.

:::

They ran and ran but the hallway didn't seem to have an end. Suddenly Zolkit stopped. "Why …?" He just shook his head, knocked on the ground again with his crane whereupon a hole appeared on the spot.

And in this hole there was a person. Ashton.

Sheena lifted him appalled and took him in her arms. He was unconscious. Water dripped from him and created a puddle underneath him.

"Ashton! Ashton, wake up!" Sheena exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

Finally the boy was coughing and then opened his eyes.

"I'm so glad," Sheena murmured quietly while hugging him relieved.

"Where is Zelos?" Orochi asked the boy.

"Isn't he …" Ashton looked at the hole and his eyes widened. "He still has to be in the room full with water!"

"We have no time to lose," Zolkit said. "He can drown any moment!" He started running again. Sheena let the exhausted Ashton climb on her back before she and Orochi followed the old man.

:::

"Zelos," a female voice said. "Zelos, you have to live. You have still too many duties and responsibilities to die now."

'_It's too late … I'm already dead …'_ Zelos thought apathetically.

"That's not true! There's still a vital spark in you! You won't give up already, will you? You're the great Zelos Wilder after all!"

'_I have no strength left …'_

"That's just what you tell yourself! You just have to hang in there a little longer! Think about Sheena! Don't you want to see her again?"

'_Of course … But how should that be possible if I'm dead?'_

"You're not dead yet! But if you still refuse to use your last strength to stay alive then you will be dead soon! And then everything is lost! Then there's no more hope for Elaros!" the female voice explained.

'_My life isn't that important … I'm insignificant. Nobody would care if I were dead. Maybe my mother was right back then … Maybe I should've never been born …'_

"Damn it, Zelos! Maybe your mother said that but she loved you! And if she had wanted your death she wouldn't have given her life for yours! And what about Sheena? Don't you think she would suffer much pain if you died? She loves you!"

'_She … loves me?'_ Zelos asked.

"Yes, of course!"

'_I can't die yet.'_

"Fortunately you finally understood!" the woman sighed relieved.

:::

The hallway now lead a little bit down and finally it ended.

"What now?" Sheena asked worriedly.

"Hmm …" Zolkit just said. He knocked once more on the ground and pulled out a wall of the ground. "Stay behind the wall." He walked to the end of the hallway and knocked with his crane against it whereupon once more a hole appeared. After that he jumped as fast as lightning on the wall. No second too late because the next moment a great mass of water flowed out of the hole. If it hadn't been for the wall Sheena, Ashton and Orochi would've been washed away.

The water slowly abated. Zolkit jumped down from the wall.

"Come here," he said.

Sheena, Ashton and Orochi passed the wall and recognized Zelos who was lying on the ground soaking wet. He was unconscious, maybe already dead.

"Zelos!" Sheena immediately ran to him and checked if he was still alive. Fortunately he still breathed but only faintly.

"We made it in time …" Zolkit said frowning. "It seems he fought to stay alive …" He pressed his crane on Zelos' chest whereupon he spat out pretty much water and coughed. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked around confusedly.

"Zelos!" Sheena hugged him relieved.

"Heh … I almost thought I would never see you again …" Zelos murmured quietly while taking her in his arms. "How come you're here? How did you actually manage to get me out of the room with water?"

"We have to thank Zolkit for that," Sheena replied.

"Zolkit? Who's that?" Zelos wanted to know.

"It's the old man here …" Sheena turned around but Zolkit could nowhere be found.

"He disappeared …" Orochi remarked frowning. "How the hell did he do that without us noticing?"

"It has to be magic … Everything he did has to be magic …" Sheena said.

"Sure he wasn't a ghost?" Zelos asked.

"No, he was real, I'm sure of it …" Sheena murmured. Then she shook her head. "Whatever. We still have to rescue Keen. Do you already have the key to the catacombs?"

"No, but we know where it is. Right, Ashton?" Zelos asked the boy but he turned his face away from him.

Zelos was confused by this but he had no time to speak with him about his peculiar behavior.

"And where?" Orochi asked.

"In the safe of the duke. It's in his office which should be somewhere above us," Zelos answered.

"Then we have to go back and use the main entrance," Sheena sighed.

"Why? Here are stairs after all," Zelos remarked while pointing to the left.

Sheena, Orochi and Ashton gazed at one another with confusion.

"There were no stairs a second ago …" Orochi said.

"It was probably Zolkit again … Who the hell is he?" Sheena wondered.

"I think the question should be: What is he? He doesn't seem like a normal human to me …" Orochi replied.

Sheena nodded. "Maybe someday we'll find it out …"

The four of them went upstairs and hoped that they would somehow find the office of the duke.

:::

In the meantime, the prophet was again standing at the entrance of Flanoir and was staring at his crystal ball. "Hopefully they'll manage without my help … I have to go on and help my daughter …"

Thereupon he vanished into thin air without leaving a single trace behind.

* * *

So, Ashton and Zelos are saved. ^^

Well, Zolkit is a mysterious person, isn't he? =) I love mysterious persons by the way. ^^

So, what will happen next? Will they find the key to the catacombs? Will the duke appear again?

To be continued ...


	21. Melting ice

Here I am again. ^^ By the way, I noticed a few days ago that the signs I used to make clear that the point of view changed weren't shown ... So I had to use other ones that are shown. xD (But you won't see them this chapter because there is only one point of view. xD)

**To axeloftheflame:** Thank you for your review. I'm happy that you like the story. ^^ Lloyd will appear somewhat later but he won't be that important ... He'll have a more important role in the sequel though. ^^

Well, enjoy the chapter. =)

* * *

**Chapter 21: Melting ice  
**

While they were going upstairs Zelos was thinking the whole time about the mysterious voice which told him not to give up. It seemed somewhat familiar but he didn't know why … And every time he had the feeling he could solve this puzzle he just couldn't think clearly anymore. Was it because of his headache or did it have another cause? Maybe the voice or some higher might didn't want him to find out to whom the voice belonged.

Orochi finally startled him out of his thoughts. "You said the key is in the safe. Do you know the code which will open the safe?"

Zelos shook his head. "Unfortunately the duke didn't want to give away this secret. He just said that it is a 10-digit code with numbers and letters."

"Letters as well? That's unusual …" Sheena remarked.

"That's the end!" Orochi stated while stopping.

"Why?" Zelos asked confused.

"There would've already been ten billion possibilities if it were a 10-digit code with only numbers! But if there are letters as well …" Orochi shortly calculated. "… there are over three quadrillion possibilities! If we assume we need only three seconds to test one combination we would need more than two hundred million years to open the damn safe! And I doubt that one of us will live nearly that long!"

Zelos nodded. "You're probably right. But what if we're just lucky?"

"You do know that the probability is one to three quadrillion?" Orochi asked sighing.

Sheena just shook her head. "What sense does it make to think about that? Either we pick that lock or not. Maybe we don't even get the chance to try because the duke catches us."

"Well, it seems we have no other choice than to test our luck …" Orochi sighed and they moved on. "If Zolkit were here he would probably just knock with his crane against the safe and it would open …"

"Well, unfortunately he disappeared … Wherever it may be," Sheena said.

"How come you're actually that good at mental arithmetic?" Zelos asked Orochi.

"A ninja has to be prepared for everything. Calculating possibilities and probabilities belongs to it," Orochi explained.

"Then Sheena can do that as well?" Zelos asked.

Sheena cleared her throat and said: "By the way, we managed to seal the volcano."

"Hey, hey, don't try to change the subject! You can't do it, right?" Zelos asked grinning and nudged Sheena's side. "Incredible! You're a ninja and can't do that!"

An artery appeared on Sheena's forehead and because Zelos didn't stop picking on her she gave him a big clout. "Shut up, Zelos! You can't do it yourself! Besides …" Sheena suddenly looked depressed. "Besides, it's something that's usually taught by the parents. My grandfather barely had the time to teach me and that's why this part of the training got a raw deal … Well, whatever. We have to hurry."

Zelos rubbed his head. "I'm sorry, Sheena. I didn't know that."

"Heh. You should finally learn when it's best to be silent," Sheena just said but she was already smiling again.

Zelos stopped musing which the others didn't notice. "Didn't Sheila say something similar back then?" he quietly murmured while remembering the day when Sheila came to him and asked him to look after her children.

"_And you still don't know when it is the best moment to hold your tongue."_

Was it just a coincidence that Sheena and Sheila were so alike or was there more to it?

Zelos didn't have the time to speculate any further though.

"Zelos, we have no time for dilly-dallying!" Sheena said and he moved on again.

"I'm coming, my hunny!" Of course he got a clout for that comment.

Sheena didn't like being called like that and Zelos knew that but somehow it was fun to annoy her with it although he always had to suffer for it.

The stairs finally ended and they were standing in front of a wooden door. Before they opened it Sheena pressed her ear against it and eavesdropped.

"It's quiet," she whispered. Then she saw through the keyhole but couldn't see anyone. "Seems like the coast is clear." Slowly she pushed the door handle downwards and opened the door a little bit to look again into the room. When she still couldn't see anything suspicious she wholly opened the door and entered the room. The others followed her.

They were in the office where Zelos and Ashton had met the duke.

"He doesn't seem to be here," Zelos remarked. "How fortunate."

"Or _un_fortunate … If he were here we could press him for the code but now we have to guess," Orochi sighed.

"Hmm … Nobody uses a code which consists of random numbers and letters. It would be too difficult to remember. So it will be something he can easily memorize … Something that has meaning to him," Zelos said.

"Oh, great! Then we have to count all his gald?" Sheena joked.

"No, he gets probably every minute more gald. He can't change his code that fast. I think it's something different," Zelos replied.

"And what?" Orochi asked.

"Maybe the birthday of his daughter?" Zelos suggested.

"Which is?" Orochi was standing in front of the safe and was ready to try the first combination of numbers and letters.

"09/12."

"Then there are seven digits left," Orochi said.

"Enter her name. That fits," Sheena replied.

But nothing changed as Orochi had entered the code.

"Attempt one failed," Zelos sighed. "Hey, Ashton, don't you have an idea? You've been quiet for the whole time."

But Ashton didn't answer and turned away from him. Zelos wanted to talk to him but again he didn't get the chance.

"Hmm … His daughter isn't that important to him … That's actually not surprising. How about his wife? Laureen said that her father started changing after the death of her mother," Sheena suggested.

"That's a good idea," Orochi agreed. "Do one of you know her birthday and name?"

Zelos and Sheena shook their heads and Orochi sighed. While the grown-ups thought about other possibilities Ashton examined the desk. He found a picture frame with a photo of a beautiful woman in it. He was pretty sure that it was Laureen's mother and got the photo out of the picture frame. On the back a name and date was written. Ashton grinned and handed it to Sheena without a word.

She looked at the photo and then saw the name and date on the back as well. "Good work, Ashton. Orochi, try 11/23 and Marisa."

Shortly after Orochi did this the safe door opened. Inside the safe was a lot of money which wasn't a big surprise and a seemingly old rusty key.

"Wow, Ashton, you can be really useful!" Zelos remarked while disheveling Ashton's hair.

However, the boy pushed away Zelos' hand and once again didn't look at him.

Zelos had enough of this. "Ashton, what's wrong with you? What did I do to you?"

"You lied to me!" Ashton exclaimed.

Zelos looked at him confused. "When did I lie to you?"

"You said you would follow me when we were in the room with water! But you didn't follow me!"

"Ashton, I couldn't follow you. I didn't fit through the opening," Zelos explained calmly.

"You knew that, right? Why didn't you tell me?" Ashton wanted to know.

"If I told you would you still have swum through the opening?"

Ashton slowly shook his head.

"You see. That's why I lied to you. I wanted for you to be safe. I promised your mother to take care of you, so I can't let you die," Zelos said.

Ashton tried the whole time to hold back his tears but now he gave rein to them.

Zelos kneed down to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you're a big boy. So don't cry."

Suddenly Ashton hugged Zelos which surprised him pretty much. But then Zelos smiled. For the first time in his life he could imagine how it felt to be a father.

Sheena smiled and wiped away some tears. Incredible how sentimental she got the last days. Where was the cold-hearted ninja woman?

Orochi smiled as well but then reminded them that they still had a mission to fulfill.

"Everything fine again?" Zelos asked the boy.

Ashton nodded and wiped away the tears.

"Then let's go."

"Yes," Ashton replied determined.

* * *

Yeah, I know, it's actually boring that the duke isn't there ... But I think I just wanted them to finally get the damn key. xD By the way, the duke won't appear again. The next time you will hear of him is in the sequel and then he will be dead. xD

Well, is it really a coincidence that Sheena and Sheila are so alike? ^^

Isn't the scene with Ashton and Zelos cute? And somewhat corny ... xD But the relationship between them will be better now. ^^

So now they have the key which they need to enter the catacombs ... Will they be able to free Keen or are the next problems already awaiting them?

To be continued ...


	22. Awful singing

Here's the next chapter! ^^

**To axeloftheflame:** Thank you. ^^ My favourite characters are actually Kratos and Raine. xD But if I had to choose between Zelos and Lloyd ... Hmm ... I don't know. xD I like both of them. ^^ I have the second game as well but the first one is better.

Enjoy the chapter. =)

* * *

**Chapter 22: Awful singing  
**

They walked through the secret passage again to get outside. Of course they could have also sneaked through the house but it would have been too dangerous. And a jump through the window would have probably activated the alarm system and woken up everybody in the building. After all it was late night.

So the friends rather wanted to take the safe way even if it took longer. But everyone of them had experienced enough adventures for today and the night wasn't over yet although they had the feeling a whole day had already passed by.

So it was no big surprise that some persons showed first signs of tiredness.

Ashton was yawning the whole time and walked slowly. One could see that he was really tired and would probably fall asleep the next minutes. So Zelos lifted him. Ashton resisted powerlessly but he was just too tired.

"I can … walk myself …" he murmured yawning.

"Don't fool yourself. You will fall asleep in a second," Zelos replied.

Just as he said that Ashton closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"We should leave him somewhere where he can sleep," Sheena said.

"But where?" Zelos asked.

"Maybe the inn?" Orochi suggested.

Zelos already wanted to agree but then he remembered something.

"_The boy … Protect the boy …"_

That's what the fortune-teller had said in her … vision or whatever it had been. It wasn't clear if Ashton was meant with these words but Zelos was pretty sure of it. Besides, he hadn't forgotten that this Cozid wanted something from Ashton.

"No, that's too dangerous. We have to bring him somewhere where he is safe," Zelos finally replied.

"What should happen to him in the inn?" Sheena remarked. "And I don't think we need that long to rescue Keen."

"Have you already forgotten about Cozid? Maybe he just waits for this kind of opportunity! Besides, we don't know how the security system is in the catacombs or how many traps there are. I think they're capable of doing everything," Zelos answered. "I would feel best if we brought him to Regal."

"Zelos, we don't have time for that," Sheena replied.

"Then I'll bring him to Regal while you two go to the catacombs. I will follow you later," Orochi said. He saw that Zelos and Sheena wanted to disagree. "No backtalk. That's the best solution."

Sheena just sighed obediently and Zelos handed the sleeping child over to Orochi.

"So … We'll meet in the catacombs. Hopefully I won't have to help you out of an awful situation," Orochi joked.

"We'll be careful. I hope you will be, too," Sheena said.

"Take good care of Ashton … if you value your life," Zelos remarked with a threatening tone in his voice.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to him," Orochi assured him a little bit amused because the chosen was visibly worried about Ashton – as if it were his own son. As soon as they were outside he walked with Ashton towards his Rheaird.

Sheena and Zelos on the contrary walked towards the church. In front of it they stopped clueless. They had the key to the catacombs now but they didn't know how they got to the catacombs. Was the entrance outside the church or inside? The latter would be pretty bad because the church was already closed.

"And what do we do now?" Sheena asked sighing.

"We search for the entrance outside … And if we find none then we somehow have to break into the church," Zelos answered.

"Well, I'm not so sure if Martel wants to see something like that …" Sheena said.

"She would probably like that better than the fact that a innocent man is hold captive near a holy building."

Sheena nodded. "You're probably right."

They circled the church searching for an entrance to the catacombs but didn't find anything.

"Excuse me, are you looking for something?" somebody suddenly asked.

The two of them turned around and saw a pretty strange looking guy. He had long blonde hair which he wore in a pigtail; only a few strands surrounded his face. Although it really wasn't needed in this region – and less at this time – he wore sunglasses. His clothes were pretty flamboyant as well. He wore a motley coat which was decorated with numerous stars. In capital letters the words 'World's Best Singer' were sewn on it.

Sheena and Zelos shortly gazed at one another. Should they tell him that they were looking for an entrance to the catacombs? But then the man would probably get suspicious of them because who would want to get into some catacombs in the night?

"Well … You see …" Sheena finally said.

"You're looking for the entrance to the catacombs, right? Ah, please tell me that I'm right," the man said while looking expectantly at them.

"Yes …" Zelos admitted hesitating. He still didn't know what to think of this man.

"How great! That calls for a little song!" Shortly after he had said that he started to troll the most awful tones.

Sheena and Zelos covered their ears with distorted faces.

"He almost sings as bad as Raine cooks," Zelos remarked.

"Yeah, his singing is awful," Sheena agreed.

Suddenly the man stopped singing. "My singing … is awful?"

"Yeah, pretty much! No offence but even the roaring of a dragon is more melodic than this cacophony which you created a moment ago," Zelos replied.

Many arteries appeared on the forehead of the man. "Philistines! I sing very well!" He started singing again.

Zelos and Sheena wanted to cover their ears again but they both suddenly got tired and had problems standing upright.

"What … the hell …" Zelos murmured before he fell unconscious.

"Zelos …" Sheena whispered and she blacked out as well.

:::

Cozid looked at the two unconscious persons who were tied up. "Fortunately you didn't overdo it, Edoph. You could've killed them with your singing."

"What does that mean? Do you again want to say that I can't sing?" Edoph asked indignantly. "I would be glad to prove that black is white!"

"Another time, Edoph. We have more important things to do now," Cozid said.

Edoph was still sulking a little bit but then gazed musing at the captives. "What did they want here?"

"They wanted to save that Keen, what else? I knew they would run into us sooner or later. We don't need Keen anymore. One of the men can kill him."

"And what about these two? Should we kill them as well?" Edoph asked.

"Do with the woman what you want to do. I still have to talk about some things with the chosen …" Cozid said grinning.

"Oh, well! Then I will wake the woman up with my lovely voice and then sing a few songs with her," Edoph remarked happily while throwing the black haired woman over his shoulder to disappear with her in his room.

:::

In the meantime, Orochi had reached Altamira and was entering the Lezareno building. When the guard didn't want to let him through he told him that he was a friend of the chosen who was a friend of the president and that his men had brought a woman named Laureen here a few hours ago and finally the guard let him through.

Regal was still awake and talking to Laureen as Orochi entered his office.

"Ah, that's Ashton," Regal said as he saw the boy.

Orochi nodded. "You have to keep watch over him for a while. It's too dangerous in Flanoir for him so we decided to leave him with you."

"Have you already freed Keen?" Laureen wanted to know.

"Not yet. But Zelos and Sheena are trying it right now … if they aren't in trouble …"

"Is there a reason to assume that?" Regal wanted to know.

"I don't know … I just have a bad feeling … That's why I want to fly back to Flanoir as soon as possible," Orochi said.

"I don't know if it will be useful to you but take this with you." Regal handed a small metallic machine to him. It had four buttons which read 'forward', 'backward', 'left' and 'right'.

"What's that?" Orochi asked confused.

Regal smiled and explained it to him.

:::

Sheena slowly opened her eyes and looked dizzily around.

"Lalala … Ah, you're awake! I knew my soft singing voice would get you out of the dreamland," a voice said.

Sheena looked around and recognized the man with the terrible singing voice. He had took off his coat by now and Sheena now saw a white cloak with dark and light yellow lines on it. Somehow it looked familiar but she wasn't awake enough to remember where she had seen this kind of cloak before.

"Who are you?" she asked tiredly.

"My name is Edoph. I'm the most musical of us. Do you want to drink something to strengthen your voice?" Edoph asked while giving her a glass with water.

"Where am I?" Sheena wanted to know without drinking something.

"Oh, you're where you wanted to be: in the catacombs. Doesn't look like it, right? It took me quite a while to furnish this room so pretty."

Sheena looked around again. She was sitting on a four-poster bed; left to her there was a long table and a mirror wall above it. The table was full with small bottles, tubes and much other stuff. On the wall opposite to her was a big wooden wardrobe which showed her many strange costumes; some of them were glittering, others had the most flamboyant colors she had ever seen. Right to her the wall was strewn with pictures of Edoph in the different costumes. Beneath it was a cupboard with several golden cups.

Edoph followed her gaze and sighed. "My babies … All won at song contest. The pictures show my successes as well. Well, and all my costumes! All tailored for me! For every contest I had another costume."

Sheena thought that there must have been something fishy about the contests because otherwise Edoph would have never even managed the preliminary round.

"Where is Zelos?" Sheena asked. The glass with water in her hand still hadn't gotten any attention from her.

"You're friend is well, he's momentarily talking to Cozid."

Cozid … The name sounded familiar. Then she finally remembered. Cozid was one of the four Diaos of the Chorior! That's why Edoph's cloak seemed so familiar; Cozid had the same, only the lines had different colors.

"You're one of the Chorior!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Correct! This success must be celebrated with a little song! Music please!" Edoph clapped his hands once and a melody sounded. "Now sing with me!"

"Forget it!" Sheena shouted while throwing the glass away which was flying into flinders. She stood up and ran towards the door but she had to realize that it was locked.

"Ah, you can't go yet! The fun hasn't really started yet!" He started grinning while slowly coming closer to her.

* * *

Well, doesn't look that good, right? xD Sheena and Zelos are pretty much in danger ... Can Orochi save them? And what's the machine he got from Regal?

By the way, I love Edoph. xD He's just so strange you have to like him. xD But I like the other Diaos as well. ^^

To be continued ...


	23. The Chorior's aims

Hi there!

Here's the next chapter. I think it's not as good as the others but well, you'll see. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 23: The Chorior's aims  
**

"Hey, wake up!"

Zelos opened his eyes as suddenly he was doused with water. Not really happy, he had to realize he was tied to a chair. In front of him a person was standing but he could only see the outlines because they were standing directly in the headlight. He could recognize the person not until they bent down to him.

"Cozid!" Zelos exclaimed angrily.

"That's how we meet again …" Cozid said grinning before he got serious. "Where is the boy?"

Now it was Zelos who was grinning. "In a safe place."

"Really? Hmm … Maybe your burning mansion can convince you to tell me where he is …" Cozid stated musing.

"You didn't …?" Zelos asked shocked.

"Oh, everything can be initiated. So where is the boy?" Cozid asked again.

"Did it occur to you that he could be in my mansion?"

"Oh, you wouldn't let him be brought to your mansion. You had to anticipate that I would look there first. He isn't in Flanoir anymore as well. My men saw how your friend flew away with the boy. Unfortunately he was very clever and shook off his pursuers," Cozid explained.

Zelos was relieved. Orochi didn't fail him. "What do you want from Ashton anyway?"

"He has an object we need to awaken the Envoys of Death. Apart from that it could be dangerous for us if it fell into the wrong hands," Cozid answered.

"And why do you think that Ashton has this object?" Zelos asked while trying to get the key out of his pocket to cut through the ropes with it. It would take a while but he had nothing else to do and he didn't have a better replacement knife.

"I don't just think it, I know it. And now you will tell me where the boy is; otherwise nothing but ashes will be left from your mansion and its habitants."

Zelos grinded his teeth. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't tell Cozid where Ashton was but he couldn't let Sebastian, Lilly and all the ninja who were in his mansion die either. He was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. The only thing he could do right now was to play for time until he had freed himself.

"What is actually the aim of the Chorior?" he asked.

"Our aim? Prevent the prophecy from fulfilling, awaken the Tainted Child and the Envoys of Death and destroy the world as it is right now to create a new one. A better world in which creatures are living that respect one another and don't wage unnecessary wars. Discrimination will cease to exist … That's the aim of the Chosen Warriors, Chorior for short," Cozid explained calmly.

"Your leader isn't called Mithos per chance, is he?" The whole thing with 'Discrimination will cease to exist' had reminded him strongly of the half-elf who had tried to start the age of lifeless beings. And right now everything seemed possible to Zelos; so it wouldn't have surprised him if Mithos had risen from the dead to put his aims into action once again.

"Mithos Yggdrasill is dead. You should know this, you're one of his murderers after all," Cozid replied.

"I just wanted to be sure … Then tell me something about your leader," Zelos demanded.

'_Just a little bit longer … I've almost cut through the rope,'_ he thought.

"Our leader? He is …" Cozid was silent for a while. "He is … hmm … I don't know how to describe him …"

"Is he such a typical meany? A true villain who treats his subordinates like dirt?" Zelos asked.

"No! He isn't like that at all! It's quite the contrary … Sometimes he's too lenient toward us. Of course he isn't pleased if we make some mistakes but he always treats us fair and gives everybody a second chance," Cozid explained.

"Wow. You don't seem like common evil guys. That are normally heartless persons who kill innocent people just because they think it's fun and fear their leader because he loses his temper if you say one wrong word."

"I think it's a matter of opinion if we're evil or not. We could describe you as evil as well. While we want to create a better world you do everything to prevent us from doing so. What is good and evil in this case, Zelos Wilder?" Cozid wanted to know.

"You try to destroy the world. That's definitely evil," Zelos replied. He had almost cut through the rope. "You kill innocent people or take them hostage. That's evil as well."

"You wouldn't hesitate to kill us either. It's the survival of the fittest; only the strongest wins. And that will be us!"

"I think your wrong!" Zelos was finally free. He stood up, hit Cozid in the face whereupon he fell to the ground. Zelos looked around for a weapon; of course he had been relieved of his sword. He found an iron rod and attacked Cozid with it.

:::

"Stay away from me!" Sheena exclaimed as Edoph came slowly closer. She was pretty sure about his intentions but she wouldn't let him do as he wanted. She would fight back with everything she had.

"Oh!" Edoph seemed to understand what Sheena was thinking and had a fit of laughter. "No, no … Don't worry … I won't do that with you …" He almost couldn't stop laughing.

Sheena raised an eyebrow. Was this a trick to surprise her the next moment or was he really not interested in her that way?

Edoph calmed down again but he still had a big grin left on his face. "Well, if your sweet friend was in your place everything would be different."

"Oh!" Sheena said. "You're …"

"… not interested in women, yes."

"That's …" Sheena couldn't finish her sentence because Edoph interrupted her.

"… disgusting? Against nature? A disgrace? That's what you think, right?" Edoph sighed. "I've heard that many times. But shouldn't everybody have the right to be the way he wants to be? That's why I joined the Chorior. Everybody accepts you here the way you are. Everybody of us has already been discriminated or bullied or has friends or family to whom this has happened. We all have the same goal: to create a better world."

"Actually I wanted to say that it's relieving because I don't have to worry about that then … But as you say this it sounds like the Chorior were good and the rest of the world evil. But it isn't like that. There are many people who accept others the way they are," Sheena said.

"But they don't do anything against discrimination … They want to maintain the world as it is and think that discrimination will fade someday," Edoph sighed.

Sheena shook her head. "Discrimination will always exist. That's why one has to be strong and fight against those who have a weak heart and can't accept others the way they are."

"In our new world there won't be discrimination …" Edoph replied. "It will be a better world … A perfect world."

"Nothing is perfect! Someday there will be discrimination and suffering in this new world as well! That's because of the … two sides of a coin …" Sheena remembered the words Zelos had said to her when they were children. "When there is death there also has to be life, when there are shadows there has to be light as well, when there is something ugly there has to be something pretty and when there is sorrow there has to be happiness, too … When there is discrimination there has to be acceptance as well. The one thing can't exist without the other one. It's the balance of nature."

"But the balance has been deranged for many centuries. It can't be restored completely no matter how hard the Servants of the Prophecy will try," stated Edoph.

"Why not?" Sheena asked.

"That's simple … Because we will anticipate it," Edoph answered.

They were silent for a while but then Sheena asked: "What do you want to do with me now?"

"Well … Actually I wanted to sing with you a little song but I don't feel like doing so anymore …" Edoph clapped his hands and the music which had been played all the time stopped. "So I can just as well kill you."

Sheena's eyes widened. "But why? What did I do to you?"

"You've heard and seen too much. Believe me, I don't like doing something like that either but I don't have a choice … It's as bothersome as taking the garbage out but it has to be done," Edoph sighed. "It won't hurt. At least that's what I think …" Edoph concentrated.

Sheena panicked and searched for a weapon or something similar. She saw the broken pieces of the glass and picked one up. She attacked Edoph with it but he dodged dancing.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? I want to kill you without suffering and you just attack me unannounced! That's really not nice!" Edoph complained.

"Let's talk about this again when you're in my situation!" Sheena exclaimed while attacking Edoph again.

However, he dodged every time. Finally Edoph grabbed her wrists.

:::

Orochi walked through a dark hallway when he thought he was hearing Sheena's voice. He turned to the right where the voice seemed to come from and noticed a door. He tried to open it but it was locked.

He grinned. "Time to test this little machine."

:::

Zelos and Cozid were still fighting; both of them had already several bruises.

Cozid had grabbed an iron rod as well and with those weapons the two of them fought as if it were swords. Unfortunately Cozid was as good as Zelos and thus a strong enemy.

"Where is Keen?" Zelos asked panting.

Cozid grinned. "I tell you if you tell me where Ashton is."

"Then I will have to search for him," Zelos replied.

"That's a futile effort. Do you think we're alone? Here are many Chorior, you won't get away that easily."

"Sheena can …" Zelos couldn't finish his sentence because Cozid interrupted him.

"She is probably already dead."

Zelos was careless for a second so that Cozid could hit him. He concentrated again. "No, that can't be true! You're lying!"

"What makes you so sure? Who knows what Edoph did to her … Maybe she's lying somewhere … and the blood is slowly running out of her body …"

"No, no, no!" Zelos shouted and hit Cozid without sense. Because his attacks were predictable now it wasn't difficult for Cozid to dodge them and hit Zelos instead.

Zelos was hit on the back whereupon he fell on his knees. Suddenly he remembered the dream with the black-haired woman who was killed by several men. Was it maybe Sheena after all? "Sheena …"

"Tch … That's why one shouldn't mess around with women. Apart from the fact that they can't do anything they mean only pain and trouble," Cozid said.

Zelos couldn't reply anything because he was still caught in his nightmare.

* * *

Well ... The Chorior aren't that bad. Ok, they want to kill Zelos and Sheena and that's obviously not good but they want to create a better world and that's not that bad ... They just chose the wrong way ... Almost like Mithos.

Yeah, Edoph is gay. ^^ He just had to be; it fits really well.

So, what will happen to Sheena and Zelos? Can Orochi save them? And will they be able to (finally) rescue Keen?

To be continued ...


	24. Unexpected help

Yay, it's time for the next chapter. ^^ I hope you enjoy it. =)

* * *

**Chapter 24: Unexpected help  
**

"I wonder if Cozid has already found out where the boy is," Edoph said suddenly. "If he did, then the redhead is probably already dead."

"No! Zelos wouldn't die just like that without telling me!" Sheena exclaimed while trying to free herself from Edoph's grip.

"Ha, that's a funny line, I have to memorize it! But I'm afraid he won't have found the time to tell you that he's dead."

"Zelos isn't dead!" Sheena shouted.

"Who knows? Maybe Cozid has to clean the ground from his blood right now. That's always such a bothersome task …"

Sheena suddenly remembered her nightmare where Zelos was lying in a puddle of blood and didn't move anymore. "No … He isn't dead …" Tears were running down her face. She let her head hang and didn't fight back anymore.

"Phew … Finally," Edoph murmured and he concentrated again. "Holy weapon of heaven come down to earth and …" Before Edoph could finish his spell something hit his head and he fell unconscious to the ground.

"Sheena! What are you doing? We have no time for being depressed!"

"Orochi! How …? What …?" Sheena asked confused.

"I will explain that later! Come on, we have to find Zelos!" Orochi grabbed her arm and pulled her towards one of the walls. "Hold on to me."

Sheena nodded without saying a word.

:::

"Hmm … Maybe I should …" Regal murmured while going up and down.

"What?" Laureen asked.

"Regarding Orochi, there are more or less fifty Chorior in the catacombs, maybe even more … The three of them can't handle them all alone. That's why it's maybe the best to contact Yuan so that he can send some of his men to the catacombs. Yes, I think that's the best. They could arrest one or two Chorior as well," Regal explained. He took a little blue machine in his hand and pressed different buttons.

"What's that?" Laureen asked interested.

"That's a communicator. With this you can communicate with everybody who has such a machine as well. We will sell them soon," Regal answered while waiting for Yuan to answer the communicator.

Some minutes nothing happened but then suddenly a little illusion of Yuan appeared above the communicator.

"Regal, it's in the middle of the night! If you got an idea to a new invention once again then good night!" Yuan griped.

"No, we need the help of the Renegades. You have to sent some of your men to Flanoir to the catacombs beneath the church."

"And what are we supposed to do there?" Yuan asked yawning.

"Help Zelos, Sheena and Orochi," Regal answered.

"What the hell has happened to them this time?"

"Listen, Yuan, I'll explain you everything but only when you finally send your men!" Regal replied annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, I already did it … Well, I hear?"

"It will take a while …" Regal began to explain.

:::

Cozid kicked and hit Zelos until he couldn't really lift himself anymore. But then suddenly the iron rod which Cozid had held fell to the ground because a knife had wounded his hand. "What the hell …?"

"It's over for you! Have fun in the land of dreams!" Orochi said while hitting Cozid's head with a bottle whereupon Cozid fell unconscious to the ground.

"Zelos!" Sheena called while running to him.

"Sheena … You're alive … I'm so glad …" Zelos murmured weakly.

Sheena hugged him. "Oh, Zelos, what did he do to you?" She was sobbing and looked to Cozid. "That jerk! He will pay for this!"

"But not now, Sheena. We don't have time for this. We have to hurry, save this Keen and then find a way out of here. We're not the only ones here after all. The other Chorior will probably appear soon," Orochi said. He turned to Zelos and asked: "Can you stand up?"

"Yeah, I'm alright …" Zelos said and slowly stood up. He was staggering a little bit so that Sheena and Orochi had to support him.

"Do one of you know where this Keen is?" Orochi asked.

Both of them shook their heads.

"Then we have to search for him …" Orochi sighed.

"Do you tell us now how you got in here? You didn't have a key," Sheena remarked.

"I have this little gadget." Orochi showed them a little metallic machine with four buttons.

"You've used this as well to transport us out of Edoph's room," Sheena remembered.

Orochi nodded. "This is a mini-teleporter. Regal gave this to me. It's pretty useful. It can teleport you a few step forward, backward, to the right or to the left."

"But this thing can't find Keen by chance, can it?" Zelos asked.

"No, unfortunately not," Orochi sighed.

They walked through one of the many dark hallways without knowing where they were actually going. But they had no other choice if they wanted to find Keen.

"Everything looks the same!" Orochi cursed. "Couldn't Zolkit have stayed with us a little bit longer? He would have definitely known where we have to go … And if there hadn't been a straight way to Keen he would've made one …"

"This guy must have impressed you pretty much," Zelos said grinning.

"He did. After all he has done one wonder after another. But we should be quiet now. There is somebody," Orochi whispered.

The three of them tiptoed to the end of the hallway and peeked into a room in which two Chorior were talking with each other.

"You know, that's really delicious, you have to try it sometime," the one Chorior said enthusiastically.

"Yeah," the other one replied bored.

"My wife can cook really good. The other day she has made noodle casserole and it was so delicious, you won't believe me! You really have to visit us one day and try it!"

"Sure …"

For a while they were silent.

"Say … What exactly was it that we are doing here?" the one who went into raptures about food asked.

"Keeping watch, what else?" the other one answered annoyed.

"Ohh, calm down … It was just a question … And why are we keeping watch?"

"Did you sleep when Lord Cozid explained it to us? In the room behind us there's a prisoner and we have to make sure that nobody frees him!"

"Oh … And why is he held captive?"

"He's our hostage, you idiot! Now shut up already!"

Zelos, Sheena and Orochi looked at one another.

"They've probably talked about Keen …" Sheena whispered.

"Yeah. We have to distract the guards somehow …" Orochi said.

"Didn't Regal give you something useful for such a situation as well?" Zelos wanted to know.

"No … But I still have a smoke-bomb left," Orochi remarked.

Sheena and Zelos nodded and the ninja threw it into the room whereupon it filled with smoke.

"What the hell …?" the annoyed Chorior cursed coughing.

"Finally …" the other one murmured while hitting his comrade on the back of the head so that he collapsed.

Sheena, Zelos and Orochi rushed to the door of the room where Keen was held captive.

"Hey you!" the Chorior called.

"Hurry, Orochi!" Zelos exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah!" The ninja had the mini-teleporter in his hand and wanted to teleport himself and the other two in the room but something didn't work.

"It was time you finally came! You don't know how long I've been keeping watch here," the Chorior said.

The smoke disappeared gradually and their enemy took off the sensor glasses and the cloak so that they could recognize who he was.

"Teren!" Orochi and Sheena exclaimed surprised.

Zelos looked at them uncomprehending. "Teren? Who's that?"

"Ah, that's right, you don't know him. He's one of the Renegades and Yuan's right hand," Orochi explained.

Teren had short blonde hair which were a little bit brighter at the front. His trademark was the toothpick which he always had in his mouth.

"But what are you doing here?" Sheena asked confused.

"Your friend … What was his name? Regal, I think. He contacted Lord Yuan and send us here to help you."

"You were pretty fast then!" Orochi goggled.

Teren was grinning. "Yeah, we have our methods. Well, anyway I've intercepted the Chorior who was ordered to kill Keen and borrowed his costume. And then I've waited for you … You really took some time."

"Well, sorry, there were some incidents," Orochi said.

"Hey, shouldn't we free Keen already? And then we should leave this place quickly," Zelos remarked.

"But how are we supposed to get into the room? The mini-teleporter doesn't work …" Orochi said.

"Maybe the batteries are empty. But that doesn't matter. I have this." Teren grinned and got the toothpick out of his mouth.

Amazed, Sheena, Zelos and Orochi watched him picking the lock with the toothpick. (I don't know if this works in reality. xD But maybe it isn't a normal toothpick ^^)

"Voilà."

The door was open and the four entered the room. It was pretty dark. The only light came through the open door.

"Is it finally time? Was the command to kill me issued?" a male voice asked.

"Keen? We're friends of Laureen. We're here to free you," Sheena said.

"Laureen? Is she well?" Keen asked excitedly while Orochi was untying his shackles.

"Yeah, she's safe," Zelos answered.

Keen exhaled in relief. "I'm so glad …"

"How are you? Can you walk?" Sheena asked him because he seemed pretty shaky.

"I'm … alright … I couldn't walk for a long time, that's all."

"Good … We should get quickly out of here. My men have already arrested many Chorior but who knows how many are still running through these hallways …" Teren said. The toothpick had already found his way back to his mouth again.

When they left the room they could see Keen for the first time. He had short brown hair and emerald green eyes which were literally shining but apart from that he seemed pretty normal.

The group tiptoed through the hallways but they met not a single Chorior.

"It's a little bit too quiet, don't you think?" Zelos asked. The whole thing seemed strange to him.

Shortly after he had said that four enemies were standing in front of them. Before they could react any way some Renegades appeared and did their work.

"Good work, guys," Teren complimented them when the Renegades had shackled the Chorior. "Bring them to the others."

"Yes, Lord Teren," one of the Renegades said and the next moment they left with the captives.

"It runs like clockwork," Teren remarked happily.

They had almost reached the exit when someone appeared in front of them once again. It was a little girl with shoulder long black hair and blue eyes.

"Ah, did you get lost?" Sheena asked and walked towards her. But then she stopped suddenly and drew back because the girl was all of a sudden surrounded by darkness.

"W-Who are you?" Sheena asked.

"My name is Retisa. I'm one of the four Diaos. It's my duty to stop you," the girl said calmly. Retisa lifted her hand whereupon the darkness seemed to gather there. It manifested into a ball.

The group realized that the ball of darkness would be the end.

* * *

Some scenes were strange in this chapter I think ... I don't know what I've thought as I wrote them. xD

Teren is cool ^^ I really like him. Do you know Jean Havoc from Fullmetal Alchemist? Teren looks exactly like him but instead of a cigarette he has always a toothpick in his mouth. I just thought that cigarettes wouldn't fit to Tales of Symphonia, so I had to think of an alternative. ^^

Yeah, Retisa ^-^ I like her, she reminds me somewhat of myself (no, I can't summon balls of darkness or something like that xD) because she's a very quiet character.

Well, I think it's clear that this isn't the end. xD Somehow they will be saved but how?

To be continued ...


	25. Protector of the bracelet

Hi there! ^^

Here's the next chapter. It's some kind of special chapter because it will deal with a part of Ashton's past. I know it's mean because the last chapter ended with a cliffhanger ... Well, you will have to deal with it. xD

I hope you can still enjoy the chapter. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 25: Protector of the bracelet  
**

_The little boy hid himself in a shelf and peeked through a little opening in the room._

"_Where is it?" a man asked. _

_The boy couldn't really see him because of the pale light._

"_I don't know what you're talking about," the mother of the boy answered._

"_The bracelet! Where is it?"_

"_I don't have a bracelet," the woman claimed._

"_Heh. I see. Our Lord said that you won't give us the bracelet just like that. That's why we give you one day to think it over. If you don't give it to us until tomorrow … we will take it violently and nobody wants that, right?"_

_The boy heard how the door was closed._

"_Ashton, you can come out now," the woman said._

_Ashton came out of the shelf and looked questioningly at his mother. "Who was that? Why did I have to hide myself? What did this man want?"_

"_So many questions, Ashton … But I'm afraid I don't have the time to explain everything to you. We have to flee …" Sheila answered._

"_Flee? Why? Where?"_

"_It would take too much time to explain this, Ashton. Pack everything you need. As soon as it's dark we will go."_

_Ashton didn't move. "But where?"_

"_We will see … To a place where it's safe …" Sheila left the room and packed some things._

_Frowning, Ashton walked in his room and packed his bag as well. When he was finished he stopped and looked musingly around in his room. He had the feeling that he probably wouldn't see it again._

_Soon it was evening and he and his mother who had the little Lilly on her back left the house._

"_We have to be very careful … They're probably watching us … I should call Zadora …" Sheila stopped and threw a coin in the air while saying: "Holy beast, awaken!"_

_The next moment a blue-silver tiger was standing in front of them._

"_Zad!" Ashton exclaimed happily while petting the tiger._

"_Come on, we have to go," Sheila said._

_They travelled the whole night. When Ashton got tired his mother told him to ride on Zadora so that he could sleep._

_The next day they made a stop in a forest._

"_They don't seem to follow us … I hope for it," Sheila murmured._

"_Mommy, do we have to flee for a long time?" Ashtons asked._

_Sheila looked sadly at him before she said: "No … I will bring you two to Meltokio."_

"_And what about you?" the little boy asked immediately._

"_I … will lure them away from you …"_

"_Why?" Ashton wanted to know._

"_Ashton … Come here for a second."_

_The little boy obeyed and walked towards his mother. She got something out of her bag and gave it to him._

"_Listen well, Ashton. You have to hide this bracelet very well. That's very, very important."_

_Ashton gazed musingly at the bracelet. It was silvery and decorated with strange runes. Besides, there were four stones in the colors red, green, yellow and blue embedded._

"_What's so special about this bracelet?" Ashton asked._

"_The Earth Healer can free the Nature Spirits with it," Sheila answered._

"_Earth Healer? Nature Spirits?"_

"_It would take too long to explain you everything and I don't know everything myself anyway … But the Nature Spirits are very important for the balance of the world. That's why they have to be freed. But if the bracelet falls into the wrong hands it can do mischief as well."_

"_In the hands of the men who chase us?" Ashton asked._

"_Correct. They want to have the bracelet to awaken evil creatures with it. That's why it's so important that you hide the bracelet very well. And someday you have to give it to the Earth Healer," Sheila explained._

"_But who is this Earth Healer? How should I recognize him or her?"_

_Sheila sighed. "The Earth Healer is my sister …"_

"_But I thought you didn't have any siblings!" Ashton protested._

"_She is …" Sheila had troubles speaking further. "My mother … _Our_ mother … she … had to abandon her … I've searched later everywhere for my sister but I have never found her … But I'm sure she's still alive … She has to live … She is the Earth Healer … If she doesn't live anymore the world is already doomed …"_

_Ashton looked pretty confused. When his mother noticed this she smiled and hugged him._

"_Don't worry about this, Ashton. Someday you will understand everything. But now we have to go on."_

_After a while Ashton asked: "Why are you bringing us to Meltokio? What are we supposed to do there?"_

"_I'll bring you to my cousin Zelos … He is pretty much of a Casanova who hasn't anything to do with children and he is a real good-for-nothing but he is the only one whom I can still trust. Besides, I'm sure that one can count on him when the chips are down," Sheila said._

"_Hmm … I think I won't like him …" Ashton remarked musing._

_Sheila laughed. "You don't even know him yet. Besides, you will have to live with him for a while so you should befriend him."_

"_How long will you be away?"_

_Sheila stopped. "Ashton …"_

_The boy looked at her. He didn't like what he saw in her face. "Y … You will come back, right?"_

_She smiled but Ashton could see that she had troubles doing so. "Of course. Go on, we should lose no time."_

_Ashton was pretty sure that she hadn't been honest to him but he pretended that he believed her._

"_What will we do when you're back again? Will we go home then?"_

_Sheila ran her hand through his hair. "Yes, certainly."_

_Suddenly men in grey cloaks were standing in front of them. Sheila immediately saw the red light so she gave Lilly to Ashton and shouted: "Ashton, run!"_

_The boy hesitated for a moment but his mother looked pleadingly at him and so he ran away. One of the men wanted to follow him but Zadora thwarted him and hissed._

_Ashton ran as fast as he could. He didn't know where so he just ran to the end of the forest. His clothes were torn by many branches and he got several scratches. Sometime Lilly began to cry. He tried to calm her down but he was too troubled himself. Tears were running down his cheeks. What if these men killed his mother? What was he supposed to do then?_

_When he was out of the forest he stopped by a rock. He sat down and looked to the forest hoping for his mother to come out of it any moment._

"_Shh, don't cry, Lilly … Mommy will be with us any second …" he whispered to his sister with a tear-choked voice._

_Many minutes passed by without anything changing und finally Ashton fell asleep._

"_Ashton, wake up," a soft voice demanded._

_The boy opened his eyes and recognized his mother who was standing a little bit exhausted in front of him._

"_Mommy!" He jumped up and hugged her happily. "How did you escape from them?"_

"_I got help."_

_Ashton thought she meant Zadora who was standing beside her and was licking some little wounds._

"_We should hurry to Meltokio … The sun is already setting."_

_They reached Meltokio not until the next day. Sheila let Zadora become a coin again. She wanted to put it away in her pocket but she stopped. "No … Here." She handed the coin to her son. "You know how to call Zadora, right? He will protect you if you're in danger."_

"_But what about you? You're defenseless then!" Ashton replied._

"_Don't worry about me. I'll manage without Zadora. It's more important that nothing happens to you."_

_Ashton was worried but he knew that his mother wouldn't change her mind. "Are we going to this Zelos now?"_

"_Not yet. The way we look right now nobody will let us to the aristocratic neighborhood let alone in Zelos' mansion," Sheila said._

"_Then he is a rich snooty-nosed little upstart?" Ashton asked not very enthusiastic._

"_He is the Chosen, my dear," Sheila answered when they entered a clothes shop. _

"_The Chosen?"_

"_Yes. Well, the former Chosen … It doesn't really matter."_

_After they had bought new clothes they went to the inn. But on the way Sheila saw a shop which sold baby buggies._

"_Hmm … That's maybe better …" she murmured. She bought a buggy and put Lilly in it._

"_Why did you do that?" Ashton wanted to know._

"_Only rural woman carry their babies on their backs so that they can work better on the field but can still look after their babies. It's more for our camouflage to have a buggy; the men are searching for a pretty exhausted woman without a buggy after all."_

_Ashton nodded. They entered the inn and booked a room so that they could wash themselves before they went to Zelos._

_After that they walked towards Zelos' mansion. The butler opened them and informed them about the Chosen being outside of the mansion. He offered them to wait in the dining room._

_Finally being there Sheila sat down on a sofa. "Ashton … Zelos will be definitely faster convinced to look after you and Lilly if you look innocent. So maybe you should play with this." She gave him some building bricks._

_Ashton looked at his mother unbelievingly._

"_Don't look at me like that. I know that you don't play with it anymore. But please pretend you would."_

"_Don't you want to tell him why we're here? That we had to flee?" Ashton wanted to know from his mother._

"_No … I think it's more safe if he doesn't know anything about this. That way he can't accidently tell anybody something he shouldn't tell."_

"_Hmm," Ashton said while starting to build half-heartedly a tower of building bricks. "I still don't quite understand why you can't stay here as well …"_

"_Oh, Ashton … I've already said that I want to lure these men away from here. They think I have the bracelet so they will follow me. That way you are safe here."_

"_I still don't like it …" Ashton murmured._

_Sheila hugged him and once again ran her hand through his hair. "I love you, Ashton."_

"_I love you, too, Mommy."_

_The next moment they heard a voice say: "__She? Is it again some constantly giggling groupie who only talks rubbish?"_

_Sheila sighed, took a deep breath and then tried to behave pretty normal as she left the room to talk with Zelos._

_

* * *

_So now you know that the object that Ashton has and which the Chorior want to have is a bracelet. And Ashton has to give it to the Earth Healer which is Sheila's sister ... Any ideas who this could be? xD

The men who chased Sheila, Ashton and Lilly were of course the Chorior.

Zadora appeared again, yay ^-^

So ... Yeah, that's what happened before Sheila, Ashton and Lilly came to Zelos ... I think there's nothing more I can say. xD

To be continued ...


	26. Fire and darkness

It's Tuesday again. ^^ And I'm somewhat late ... But today was a troublesome day so I didn't have time to update earlier. But better late than never. ^^

I want to thank angel2882 and axeloftheflame once more for their reviews. =)

Well, enjoy the chapter. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 26: Fire and darkness  
**

Ashton slowly opened his eyes and looked around dozily.

"Oh, you're awake," a voice said.

Ashton turned around and recognized Laureen. Shortly after that he noticed Regal who was still talking to Yuan's little illusion.

"What … am I doing here?" the boy asked puzzled.

"Zelos, Sheena and Orochi thought it was best to bring you here," Laureen explained.

"What? But how could they do that? I have to help them after all!" Ashton exclaimed indignantly.

"The three of them will manage it. They'll be certainly back soon," Laureen said.

"Hey, to whom belong the voices in the background?" Yuan's voice asked.

"They belong to Ashton and Laureen," Regal answered who had explained everything to Yuan in the meantime.

"Ah, ok. Oh, I just get a message from my men. Many Chorior have already been arrested. Our friends have been seen the last time near the exit so they should be out of there soon. This Keen was with them by the way," Yuan said.

Laureen exhaled in relief. "You see, Ashton? I said they'll manage it."

"Yeah … I just would've been rather with them …" Ashton murmured.

Suddenly they heard a barking and Laureen's dog came with its puppies to them. Ashton lifted one of the puppies and giggled when it licked his face. But then he frowned. "Weren't it seven puppies?" he asked Laureen.

"You're right … But here are only six … Maybe the last one hid himself. I will search for him."

But when she returned after a while she looked clueless. "He must still be in Zelos' mansion … I will fetch him later."

"Wait! Can't … Can't I have the puppy?" Ashton asked hopefully.

Laureen shrugged. "Sure, if your parents have nothing against it. Or momentarily Sheena and Zelos …"

Ashton looked shortly depressed, then he said: "My parents won't have anything against it … And I can persuade aunt Sheen and uncle Zel."

"Well then," Laureen replied smiling. "Then I have to worry about one puppy less."

:::

Cozid woke up because of a peeping. Dizzily he stood up and took the little gadget which was causing the noise in his hand. It was a communicator. He pushed a button and the little illusion of a woman with short, dark red hair appeared. She seemed to be angry.

"Cozid, could you kindly tell my how long I have to stand here without doing anything? I have more important things to do, you know?"

"Nariko, set the Chosen's mansion on fire. That will be a lesson to him …" Cozid said while rubbing his aching head.

"What? Do you want to say that's why I had to wait the whole time here? Only to set this stupid mansion on fire? I can't believe it! Anybody else could have done this as well!" Nariko clamored.

"Just do it already! You can use your powers at least once!"

"Listen, my powers shouldn't be used for setting some mansions on fire! One of your men can do that with a torch as well!" Nariko replied.

"Oh, that's typical! You give a woman a simple task and she just can't manage to do it! Like I say: Women are good for nothing!" Cozid remarked.

"Hey, don't talk to me like that or I'll beat you up!"

"I'm afraid you're not in the position right now to beat me up. Apart from that the friends of the Chosen did that already for you. So set this damn mansion already on fire! After that you can do what you want!"

"Hopefully! I don't have time for such a crap! I could've already killed a Servant of the Prophecy if I didn't have to wait for your instructions!" Nariko nagged.

Cozid grinned. "Nobody forced you to wait, Nariko. Maybe you wanted to help me by choice? Maybe you lied a year ago after all and you …"

"Argh!" Nariko exclaimed angrily.

The next moment the little illusion had disappeared.

Cozid was still grinning.

:::

The ninja in Zelos' mansion were bored to death. They didn't really understand why they had to keep watch here when nothing happened anyway. When they noticed the little puppy it was a welcome distraction.

"Oh, how cute!" one of the kunoichi said enthusiastically. (If you don't know: kunoichi = female ninja)

"It's no surprise that you like something like this, Zuzi," another ninja said.

"Do you have something against it, Bayne?" Zuzi asked challenging.

"N-No!" Bayne answered quickly.

Zuzi turned to the little puppy again. Giggling she let it lick her hand. "But what is the puppy doing here? As far as I know the Chosen doesn't have a dog."

"This woman with the green hair had a bunch of puppies. It probably belongs to her," Bayne said.

"Hmm … Maybe I can buy one from her …" Zuzi mumbled.

"You don't have the time to take care of a dog," Bayne remarked.

Zuzi walked towards him and looked threatening at him. "Mind your own business."

Suddenly the little puppy began to whimper and ran towards the entrance door which it scratched.

"It seems like someone has to walk the dog. I will do that," Zuzi said satisfied because she finally had a distraction.

"Wait, I'll come with you," Bayne replied while following her.

Zuzi turned around quickly so that Bayne almost bumped into her. "I can handle it solo!" (Reminds me of Belle from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers xD She says that all the time as well xD)

"Hey, you lovebirds," another ninja said. "Outside there's a woman with short, red hair … I don't like the look in her eyes …"

Bayne and Zuzi walked towards the window next their colleague and looked outside as well.

The red haired woman was standing a little bit away from the mansion and stared at it as if she wanted to let it turn into dust with her glances.

"Shall we arrest her?" the ninja who had seen her first asked.

"Something about her gives me the creeps … I can't help but think that she's dangerous … We should leave," Zuzi said.

"Come on! She's alone, we're twenty! We won't have any problems with her," Bayne replied.

"Is there trouble?" someone suddenly asked.

When they turned around they saw the butler standing on the stairs. He had the baby in his arms. It seemed like Lilly had cried and the butler had woken up from it. And when he had calmed her down he had heard the voices of the ninja and got curious.

"Is there a rear exit?" Zuzi asked pestering.

"Y-Yes, in the kitchen … for the servants …" Sebastian answered perplexed.

"Then we should leave immediately!" Zuzi said. "Retreat, guys!"

"H-Hey! Wait a sec! Since when do you give any orders?" Bayne asked angrily. "Lord Orochi gave _me_ the supreme command!"

"Yeah, but if you aren't capable of giving the right order then I have to do it! This woman is dangerous, believe me! So let's leave!" Zuzi exclaimed while looking darkly at Bayne who drew back a step. "A minute ago you wanted to go outside, now's the opportunity for that!"

Bayne sighed obediently. "Alright … Retreat!"

The ninja obeyed and ran through the rear exit in the kitchen outside.

"Hurry!" Zuzi said to the butler. He seemed to wake up from a dream and finally moved.

Shortly after they were all outside the mansion was burning. The fire spread so fast that they would've never come outside alive if they had hesitated to leave any longer.

"Incredible … You were right!" Bayne said to Zuzi. He was totally pale.

"Female, intuition, Bayne. You should get it for yourself as well," Zuzi replied.

The surrounding ninja laughed and Bayne blushed because of embarrassment.

"Err … Well … Anyway, thank you for not hesitating to tell me off."

"It was a great pleasure for me," Zuzi remarked grinning while petting the puppy in her arms.

"Ah, what will my master say to this?" Sebastian asked agonized. "His mansion … Burned down in a few seconds …"

Everyone was silent but Zuzi finally stated: "Rather a burned house than twenty-two lives less. The Chosen will get over it. But I'm sure he couldn't have borne it if such a good friend of his and a little baby had died." She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, you're probably right," Sebastian agreed sighing.

Bayne was impressed by Zuzi. Somehow she managed to find in every situation the right words. He looked at the burning mansion again. "We should contact the Renegades. They have certainly something to extinguish the flames."

"I'll take care of that," one ninja said and after a short nod from Bayne he walked away.

"We can just hope that the fire doesn't flash over on the other houses …" Zuzi remarked sighing.

Bayne nodded musingly. "I'm wondering who this woman was …"

"Yeah … I would like to know this as well …" Zuzi replied.

"Hey, Zuzi … When we're back in Mizuho again … would you like to go out for food?" Bayne asked hesitatingly.

"Hmm …" Zuzi said while looking at him for a while. "It depends on how you behave until then … If I have to continue making the right decisions for you then probably not." She walked towards Sebastian and Lilly but shot a small glance back at him.

Bayne looked at her grinning like an idiot. "Holy Martel, she likes me after all …"

"Bayne, the Renegades are here. You should help them," one of the ninja said.

"Okey-dokey!" Bayne answered happily whereupon the ninja looked at him puzzled.

:::

The ball of darkness in the hand of the girl grew bigger with any second. "Dark aura that devours everything, I summon you."

Zelos couldn't believe it. The girl was on the verge of killing them and all she did was looking apathetically! As if she didn't care at all what she was doing. He looked at Sheena and grabbed her hand. Maybe it would've been better to attack Retisa but nobody could do it. They could do nothing else than to accept their destiny.

"Sheena … I love you," Zelos whispered.

Sheena looked into his eyes and answered: "I … I love you, too …" She nestled up against him and together they waited for the end.

:::

The prophet was wandering through the Triet Desert when he felt shortly pain in his stomach. It could only mean one thing: One of the Servants of the Prophecy was in danger. Quickly he looked in his crystal ball which showed him who was threatened by whom.

"Oh, great …" he mumbled.

It would have taken too long to get to the place of danger even if he had the ability to cover a very big distance in seconds. No, he had to do something else.

:::

Retisa finally wanted to throw the ball of darkness at the group in front of her when she suddenly heard a voice in her head.

'_Don't do it, Retisa!'_

"Who …?" she mumbled quietly while stopping. But she didn't let the ball of darkness disappear yet.

'_I'm the voice of reason! Let these people go!'_

"But …"

'_Please, Retisa, listen to me! Listen to your fa … mind!'_

The voice was touching something deep within her, opened a door and that was what finally changed her mind. "Alright …"

:::

Orochi had watched with confusion how the girl had seemingly talked to herself. When she finally let the ball of darkness disappear he was only more confused. But when the girl then in addition said that they could go he was sure his ears weren't working right – or that the girl was totally crazy. She had such a good opportunity to kill them all but she let them simply go. It was too much for Orochi, his mind refused to understand this.

"What do you mean you let us go?" Teren asked slow-wittedly.

However, the girl didn't answer him but nodded towards the door. So little group moved slowly on.

"It must be a trap …" Orochi murmured while awaiting the enemy behind every corner.

But finally they got outside without any further troubles.

* * *

Ahh ... I like Cozid and Nariko ^^ Their relationship especially, it somewhat reminds me of the typical Zelos/Sheena relationship ...

Zuzi and Bayne were characters I brought in spontaneously and I like them as well. ^^ I like Zuzi especially because she's just cool. ^^

Well, yeah, poor Zelos ... Now he has lost his mansion above all ... But thanks to Zuzi everyone is safed. ^^

So, Sheena has finally admitted that she loves Zelos. She hasn't said this before - almost unbelievable, right? xD

I like the prophet. He was more or less my problem solver. Whenever I had a problem I could bring him in. xD

So, the 'voice of reason' *caugh* persuades Retisa to let Zelos and the others go. Happy end for this chapter, yay ^^ (Well, somehow, if you forget the thing with the mansion xD)

What will Zelos do when he learns that his mansion had been set on fire? What will the Chorior do (after all, they still want to get the bracelet which Ashton possesses)?

To be continued ...


	27. Merely a ruin

Here's the next chapter. ^^

Once again a special thanks to angel2882 and axeloftheflame for reviewing. =)

I hope you enjoy this chapter. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 27: Merely a ruin  
**

Still confused, the group stumbled outside.

The sun had risen a short time ago and slowly the habitants of the city woke up and started going about their daily businesses.

"W-We're still alive?" Zelos asked as if he realized it just now.

"Somehow …" Orochi said.

"You should go now," Teren stated. He was chewing on his tooth pick again.

"What about you?" Sheena asked.

"I'm staying. Some of my men are still in there and arresting the last Chorior. Maybe I should warn this girl; she let us go after all …"

"I don't care what you do … I want to pick up Ashton and then go home … And then I only want to sleep …" Zelos replied exhausted.

"I want to see Laureen …" Keen said.

"Then let's fly to Regal now," Sheena remarked.

They said goodbye to Teren and then started their Rheairds.

:::

"How's the situation?" Regal asked Yuan.

A sigh could be heard. "They were able to extinguish the fire … But from the mansion nothing more than a ruin is left."

Regal, Laureen and Ashton had been informed by Yuan that Zelos' mansion had been set on fire.

Ashton was somehow depressed because of this. He had lived in the mansion only for a few days but somehow it became some kind of home to him … And where would Zelos, Sheena, Sebastian, Lilly and he live now? Sheena had of course still her own house … But where should Zelos, Sebastian, Lilly and Ashton go? And how should his mother find him when she returned in a few days?

"Fortunately nobody is dead or wounded. That's most important," Regal said.

"Yeah. I will go to the there now. If you want to contact me I have my communicator with me," Yuan stated.

"Alright," Regal replied. He pushed a button whereupon the illusion of Yuan disappeared.

"Now we can only wait …" Laureen said sighing.

Some time passed without anybody saying anything; then suddenly the door was opened.

The three of them looked hopefully to the door but only George who brought them breakfast entered the room. They hadn't even noticed that it was already morning.

Shortly after George had set the table the door was opened again and Zelos, Sheena, Orochi and Keen entered.

Laureen ran immediately to Keen and embraced him happily. Ashton, however, ran crying towards Zelos and Sheena and hugged them.

"What's wrong?" Zelos asked. He had noticed in an instant that Ashton wasn't crying for joy.

"Zelos, I'm afraid we don't have good news for you …" Regal said. "Maybe it's better if you sit down."

"Did something happen?" Sheena asked worriedly.

"Maybe it's better if you sit down as well …" Regal added.

When both of them were sitting Regal began to explain. "Zelos … Your mansion … has been set on fire."

"What?" Sheena, Orochi and Zelos exclaimed at the same time.

"What about Sebastian and Lilly? Are they alright?" Sheena asked upset.

"And what about the ninja?" Orochi added worriedly.

Regal lifted his hands to calm them down. "Both of them as well as the ninja are fine. Nobody is dead or wounded; everybody could escape in time. We still don't know who set the mansion on fire. But a woman with short, red hair was seen in front of the mansion; so probably she is responsible for the fire."

"Damn it … He carried out his threat …" Zelos cursed while hitting the wall with his fist.

"Who?" Sheena asked.

"Cozid. He said if I don't tell him where Ashton is he'll set my mansion on fire … Damn it! If somebody had died …"

"But nobody has died, Zelos," Sheena replied softly while placing her hand on his shoulder.

"The fire's my fault …" Zelos blamed himself even if nobody had been hurt.

"No, if it's someone's fault then it's mine …" Ashton murmured.

"Why?" Orochi wanted to know.

"They're after me … If I weren't here nothing of this would've happened …"

"Is somebody else blaming himself as well?" Sheena asked angrily. "The fire isn't the fault of any of us! If you want to blame somebody then blame the Chorior! So stop blaming yourselves, you two!" Sheena reprimanded them. "Everybody is fine and that's all that counts!"

"But where are we supposed to live now?" Ashton asked depressed.

"In Mizuho there's certainly a house for you," Sheena replied. "We'll solve this problem."

"Sheena's right. A place to live should be the smallest problem right now. First of all we should arrest these Chorior. Fortunately, many have been already arrested," Regal said. "Maybe we should have breakfast now."

"I'm not hungry …" Zelos mumbled. "I want to go to Meltokio and … and see what's left …"

Sheena and Ashton nodded; they weren't really hungry as well.

"I'll come with you," Orochi said.

The four of them already wanted to go but Keen stopped them.

"Wait! I didn't really thank you for my rescue yet … I want to give you this." He got something out of his pocket. It was a crystal which was glittering in the colors yellow and orange.

"I like to dig in mines and that's why I know much about stones and crystals but I've never seen such a crystal before. Besides, I didn't find it in a mine but on a snowcapped mountain from which sunrises can be watched very well," Keen explained while giving the crystal to Zelos who looked at the crystal with fascination.

It was like the crystal put him under a spell. Something was special about it, he knew that much.

"Thanks, Keen. But that wasn't really necessary," Sheena said.

"Oh, yes, it was. I'm really grateful for my rescue. That's why I almost feel bad because I can only give you this crystal … But I don't really have much Gald …"

"That's alright. Maybe this crystal will be useful someday. Thank you," Zelos replied smiling.

"Thank you for everything," Laureen remarked.

"We'll see us," Regal said.

The group nodded and then left the building to fly with the Rheairds to Meltokio. The entrance of the city seemed pretty deserted. They saw not a soul. But the closer they got to the burned down mansion the more crowded it got. The people recognized Zelos and let him and his friends through.

When Zelos was finally standing in front of the ruins of the mansion it literally broke his heart. He would've never thought that the loss of his house would hurt that much but after all he had lived all his life in this mansion. He grew up in there and had fooled around any possible way. He remembered very well how he had slid down the stair-rail as a child although Sebastian had explicitly prohibited it. After that he had to lie in bed for a while because he had broken his leg.

Another time he had brought a straying cat into the kitchen which had caused a total chaos. The cooks had chased him angrily out of the kitchen together with the cat. They had forbidden him for the time being to come close to the kitchen. Yes, somehow he always took on cooks …

And now … Only a ruin was left. Everything has broken down; only the base walls were still standing. His home had been destroyed. He didn't have a place anymore to which he could return. Zelos was feeling a great emptiness inside of him. He had lost something very important in his life in an instant. Now the mansion existed only in his memories.

"We will build it up again," Sheena said and embraced him because she felt that he needed that right now. She ignored the deadly glances of Zelos' groupies who were standing behind them.

"It won't be the same … The portrait of my mother existed only once … It's forever lost … Burned down …" Zelos mumbled.

"The Chorior will pay for that," Orochi assured him.

"Hey!" suddenly a voice called. Yuan came to them. "I'm sorry, Chosen. We couldn't save much. Only this old sword and a locket." He gave both of it to Zelos.

"Heh … My first sword … And the locket of my mother …" Zelos murmured.

Two of the ninja came to them now.

Orochi nodded towards them. "Good work, you two. But how come you all could escape in time?"

"We have to thank Zuzi for that," Bayne said while running a hand through his orange hair. "If she hadn't forced me to order retreat probably nobody of us would be alive anymore."

"Maybe I should give Zuzi supreme command the next time," Orochi replied.

"No, rather not. Too much trouble," Zuzi said grinning.

Sheena saw Sebastian and Lilly and walked towards them. Zelos followed her. Ashton wanted to follow as well but then he saw the puppy and he forgot his original intention immediately. Happily he lifted the puppy and petted it.

"Hmm … I think you're not the only one who is interested in the puppy," Bayne said to Zuzi.

She sighed and walked to Ashton. "Is that your dog?"

"Theoretically … Laureen said I could have it if uncle Zel and aunt Sheen … and my parents … have nothing against it," Ashton answered.

"And this Laureen … She has some more puppies, right?" Zuzi wanted to know while playing with her blonde hair.

"Yes. Without this one they're six. Do you want one?"

Zuzi nodded. "Do you think she would sell me one?"

"Certainly. You just have to fly to Altamira and ask her," Ashton said.

Zuzi smiled. "I will."

Ashton walked towards Zelos and Sheena who were talking to Sebastian.

"I'm so sorry, sir … I couldn't do anything …" Sebastian sighed.

"It's most important that everybody is fine," Zelos replied while placing a hand on the shoulder of his butler. "And I rather lose my house than you."

Sebastian was smiling weakly.

In the meantime, Sheena was cuddling Lilly who was dozily opening her eyes and looking around.

"Uncle Zel!" Ashton called while running towards him. "Can I keep this puppy?"

Zelos first wanted to forbid it; after all he didn't have to have a dog on his plate right now as well but then he thought that Ashton was staying with him only for a few more days anyway. The puppy would then be Sheila's problem and apart from that it was only good for a child to take a little responsibility. "Alright. But only if you always take care of him."

"Yeaaah!" Ashton exclaimed happily and the puppy joined in his shout of joy with a barking.

"You should give the puppy a name," Sheena said smiling.

"I'm calling him Voax. That's Ryunish and means 'beige'; the color of his fur."

"Then we can only hope that Voax will get along with Zadora," Zelos said while running his hand through Ashton's hair, a gesture which slowly became a habit …

* * *

Poor Zelos ... I didn't really know that I let him suffer that much, I only saw it now while translating ... But well, I always let the main characters suffer. xD That's a habit of mine. ^^

Keep this crystal in mind. It will be important for the sequel. ^^

Of course the mansion will be rebuild but it will take some time. In the meantime, Zelos and the others will live in Mizuho.

Yeah, Voax ... He's not really important. xD I will also forget him pretty often ... I always forget animals ... xD That's why Zadora hasn't been mentioned that much the last chapters ...

Well ... What else can I say? Nothing much ... I can only wish you merry Christmas in advance. ^^

To be continued ...


	28. Nariko and Cozid

Hi there! ^^

I hope your Christmas was nice. Mine was great. ^^ I got cool presents. xD

So, thanks again to my two loyal reviewers angel2882 and axeloftheflame, you're great! =)

Ah, yeah, before I forget ... I don't own the song that's 'sung' in this chapter, it belongs to the Scissor Sisters.

Enjoy the chapter. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 28: Nariko and Cozid  
**

Nariko was walking musingly through the dark hallways towards the room. A while ago a Chorior had contacted her and told her that the lord wanted to speak with her. So she came here as quickly as possible. When she entered the room she realized that the other Diaos weren't attendant. It was confusing her because the lord had never called only her before. But somehow she was glad about it.

"Nariko," the lord sighed. "We have a problem."

"What problem, milord?" the young woman asked.

"The Chorior in Flanoir have been arrested by the Renegades."

"All of them?"

"No, a few were able to escape in time," the lord replied.

"What about Cozid, Edoph and Retisa?"

"Cozid and Edoph have been arrested as well but Retisa was able to escape. Unfortunately she didn't explain how. She has locked herself in her room with a thoughtful expression on her face," the leader of the Chorior sighed.

Nariko was sighing as well. When Retisa was in that mood it was better to not disturb her let alone force her to do something. She was naturally a quiet child and pretty uncommunicative but she could get pretty angry as well. And if you had experienced one of her rage attacks you did everything to not experience it once again.

"I want you to free the others. A few Chorior will come with you. Apparently the leader of the Renegades isn't there right now; that's the perfect opportunity."

"Yes, milord," Nariko said before leaving the room.

:::

"Here, this house is empty. It should be enough for you," Orochi said to Zelos, Sebastian and Ashton.

Right now they were in Mizuho, the little ninja village. The house which Orochi was showing to them was of course nothing in comparison to Zelos' mansion but it was big enough for the three of them and at the time nobody was picky anyway.

Zelos only wanted to sleep; nothing else interested him anymore. Sheena agreed with him and so both of them disappeared into a sleeping-room whereupon Orochi lifted an eyebrow.

Sebastian and Ashton who had slept a little bit rather wanted to look around in the village.

After they had seen everything – and it wasn't really much – they sat down at the river and enjoyed the tranquility.

Sebastian sat Lilly down next to him in the grass and sighed. He hoped that the next days would be much calmer; this much stress and hectic rush didn't do him good. One could suffer from a heart attack or an apoplectic stroke faster than thought. And then he could forget his job as a butler. It changed one if one survived it. Sebastian especially had to be very careful; he wasn't the youngest one after all. Yes, how the time passed by … He looked at the boy next to him who was playing with Voax and remembered Zelos when he was the same age. A little bright boy who did nothing but trouble … Ashton really resembled Zelos very much .

Suddenly the boy was pointing at Lilly with sparkling eyes. "She's crawling!"

Sebastian looked to Lilly now as well and watched the little baby crawling over the meadow towards a flower while laughing.

Sebastian smiled. It always warmed his heart to watch such a little creature.

"How old is she now?" he asked the boy.

"She's a year old. And I'm only one more day five years old."

"Tomorrow is you birthday? I didn't know that," Sebastian said puzzled.

"I didn't tell it anybody. Actually my mother wanted to show me a special place … Unfortunately she didn't tell me which place … And now I probably will never find it out …" Ashton murmured.

"But your mother will pick you up soon. Then she'll certainly show you that place."

Ashton turned his head to the side. "Right … But it won't be punctual for my birthday …"

"It isn't your last birthday. Then she'll show you this place your next birthday."

Ashton nodded and smiled sadly.

"Do you want us to give a party? I could organize everything," Sebastian said to cheer the boy up a little bit.

"Yeaaah, that would be great!" Ashton exclaimed enthusiastically.

:::

Nariko was sneaking with the few men the lord had given to her through the hallways of the Renegade Base. It was pretty empty in here; most Renegades were still in Meltokio at the burned mansion. So the fire had had an advantage for them after all. When Nariko had learned that nobody had fallen victim to the flames she had been pretty upset because she had set the mansion on fire for nothing. And she had to stand in front of the mansion for hours. Oh yes, she would get back at Cozid for that …

First he put her up to set the mansion on fire for nothing and then he let himself be arrested … And then telling her that she as a woman couldn't get anything done! Whose plan was it that had gone wrong? In any case not hers.

The Renegade who they met on their way hadn't anything to laugh because she was so angry that she knocked them off one after another. (But she doesn't kill them.) Her comrades looked at her strangely and backed off a little bit.

Finally they came to the cells. While her comrades took care of the other Chorior and freed them Nariko walked towards the cell in which Cozid and Edoph were sitting.

"NA~RI~KO!" Edoph sang enthusiastically – and pretty awkward but she was already used to it.

"Nariko, finally! I already thought you would never come! What are you waiting for? Open the cell!" Cozid demanded impatiently.

"Why? I'm just a woman after all. I can't get anything done. I'm sorry, you will have to wait until somebody else comes by and frees you …" she said while looking disinterested at her finger nails.

"Nariko, please! We don't have time for such games!" Cozid replied.

"Hmm … Last night you let me wait unnecessarily for two hours just to set a mansion on fire for nothing – which could've been done by anybody else as well – that didn't take even one single life. So I will let you wait now as well."

"Nariko, you could at least let me out!" Edoph pleaded.

"Sorry but you're in the same cell as him. Your bad," Nariko said.

"Nariko! I'm very sorry so let us finally out!" Cozid exclaimed desperately.

"Wait … Say that again," the woman demanded from him.

"Let us out!"

"No, what you said before that."

Cozid sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Hmm … Not bad. But that still isn't enough." Nariko was walking up and down in front of the cell.

"What else do want to hear? I've already apologized!"

"Maybe that you are a big idiot? Your so-called ‚plan' to get the boy has backfired! Not only that we still don't know where he is, no! The Chosen and his friends have disappeared now and we have lost our hostage as well! What do you think how long it will take to find the Chosen now?" Nariko asked angrily.

"Yeah, alright! I'm admitting that I'm a great idiot! Something like that won't happen again!"

"Hmm … Fine." Nariko unlocked the cell door and let Edoph and Cozid out. "We should disappear quickly. Who knows when the other Renegades come back?"

The other two Diaos nodded and so all of the Chorior headed to their hideout.

"First of all I need a headache tablet … My head is whirring …" Cozid remarked while rubbing his head. His hair was clotted because of the dried blood. Edoph wasn't any better but he was already his old self again.

"Ahh, first of all I have to sing a little song! Music on!" The music started playing and Edoph sang:

„But I don't feel like dancing

When the old Joanna plays

My heart could take a chance

But my two feet can't find a way

You'd think that I could muster up a little soft shoe, gentle sway

But I don't feel like dancin'

No sir, no dancin' today."

"STOP!" Nariko and Cozid exclaimed at the same time.

"Pah! Philistines!" Sulking, Edoph left the room.

"Oh, how would I be blessed if he was hoarse for one day …" Cozid sighed.

"He would probably try to sing then as well. And it would only be a croaking," Nariko replied.

"And even that would be more endurable than these awkward tones right now …"

Cozid had dissolved a headache tablet in water by now and lifted the glass but he let it fall down with a pained expression on his face. He looked at his right hand. He saw the wound and just now he remembered that the ninja had thrown a knife at him so that he let the iron rod fall down.

"Show it to me," Nariko said while taking his hand. "Hmm … No bones or nerves were damaged. You were lucky."

Nariko had the ability to feel the body of a human to the smallest cell. That turned her into one of the best healers there were. In fact she couldn't use healing magic but she could see immediately which illness a patient was suffering from. If she hadn't come to the Chorior she would be today in demand by all the healers and doctors.

While she was treating his wound Cozid asked: "Don't you regret sometimes having joined us?"

"No. I didn't regret it even once."

"You could've become rich and famous."

"I was rich from the beginning, Cozid. My parents own the hotel in Altamira. But that's part of the past. I don't want to have anything to do with my past life," Nariko said determined.

"Nobody of us wants that …" Cozid replied.

Nariko was finished treating his wounds and let her hands lie on his head a while longer. "You should be more careful, Cozid."

"Are you worrying about me?" he asked grinning.

"Dream on," she answered before walking away to treat Edoph's head as well.

Cozid sighed. "I do … Every night …"

* * *

So Zelos and the others are living in Mizuho for now. ^^ And little Lilly has started crawling, isn't it sweet? But there will be even a sweeter scene in one of the next chapters. ^^

Ahh, I love Nariko. xD Isn't she great? ^^ And Edoph as well ... And Cozid, too. ^^

I think it's not difficult to see that Cozid has some feelings for Nariko xD But she doesn't reciprocate his feelings, not yet ... Actually she was supposed to have a slight crush on the lord but I never really implemented that idea and maybe it's better that way. The lord is about twenty years older than her anyway. xD

Well ... When will the Chorior find out where Zelos and the others are? And will the next days really be much calmer or will there be trouble again?

So, this time I wish you a happy New Year. =)

To be continued ...


	29. Calm days

The first chapter this year, yay! ^^

Thanks again to my two loyal reviewers angel2882 and axeloftheflame; I hope you will acompany me through this story this year as well. =)

Well ... Enjoy this chapter. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 29: Calm days  
**

So the next day was Ashton's birthday. Nobody had a present for him but he didn't really care. If he had wanted to get presents he would've said earlier that his birthday was soon. But it was still a nice party.

Sebastian had somewhere ordered several delicious cakes. On a tasty strawberry cake with chocolate cream six candles had been placed. Ashton blew them all out and wished for something. Of course he didn't tell anybody what he had wished for because in that case the wish wouldn't come true.

Three large tables were standing in the middle of the village so that everybody got a seat.

After everybody had eaten enough of the cake Zelos, Sheena and Lilly went for a walk with Ashton and his puppy. They walked into the Gaoracchia Forest.

Ashton was frowning and wondering why they were going for a walk in this creepy forest of all places when there were some nicer places near Mizuho. But apparently Zelos and Sheena had a destination because they were going with determination in a certain direction. Then they suddenly stopped.

"Ashton, Sebastian told us that your mother wanted to show a special place to you on your birthday. And I think it can only be one place," Zelos said before walking on.

The others followed him and the next moment they were at a beautiful clearing which was literally blooming of life. Ashton had never thought that he would see something this pretty in such a desolate region and that's why he was pretty amazed.

"Sheila showed me this place when we were still children. That's why I thought it's the place she wanted to show to you," Zelos explained. "It's one of the few places where the balance of the world still exists …"

"It's so beautiful here!" Ashton exclaimed happily while spinning round until he saw a deer which was standing on the border of the clearing and looking curiously at the group. "Come here! Don't be afraid!"

Indeed, the deer came closer and let himself hesitatingly be petted by Ashton. The boy was laughing happily and decided that this was his best birthday by far although he had to celebrate it without his mother.

Zelos lay an arm around Sheena and whispered: "You see? I kept my promise."

Sheena leaned against him and nodded. "You took your time."

They stayed for quite a while but when it was finally dawning they decided to go back to not miss dinner. Sebastian had prepared everything in the time being. The tables were full of different food. There were several salads, a suckling pig, a few chicken wings, potatoes in the skin and much more. Zelos asked Sebastian where he had gotten all the delicious food from but he only answered that he had his connections regarding food.

During dinner Bayne remembered something. "Zuzi, we wanted to eat together sometime. When will we do that?"

"We're eating together right now, aren't we?" Zuzi replied grinning.

"But I didn't mean it like that! I meant … only the two of us …" Bayne answered. The whole thing seemed to embarrass him suddenly because everybody at the table had perked up their ears.

"Hmm …" Zuzi was looking at him and seemed to think. "Tomorrow evening. In Luin."

Bayne was beaming with joy and totally forgot his food.

"Tomorrow evening in Luin?" a ninja who was sitting close to them asked. "Doesn't the festival for the Goddess of Water take place there?"

"Yeah, that's right. It's said that there will be great fireworks. So the two of them won't be that alone. My wife and children want to go there at all costs so I will have to come along as well …" another one answered.

"A festival?" Zelos asked who had gotten clairaudient.

"Yes, in Luin. At night there are supposed to be fireworks," the first ninja repeated.

Zelos looked at Sheena, Ashton and Sebastian. "Wouldn't that be something?"

"Oh yeah! I've never seen fireworks before!" Ashton exclaimed enthusiastically.

"It will certainly be nice," Sheena said.

Sebastian nodded.

"Orochi, are you coming along as well?" Zelos asked the masked ninja.

"Hmm … Alright."

They celebrated until late night but then the first people went into bed and it was time for Ashton as well. He was almost falling asleep so Zelos finally carried him to his bed. He helped him changing his clothes because Ashton was already halfway asleep and then tucked him in.

"It was a nice day … Thank you …" Ashton murmured before he ultimately fell asleep.

Zelos once again ran a hand through the boy's hair and then stood up. He was looking at Sheena who was standing with Lilly in her arms in the door frame.

"You're almost like a father to him … Although both of you didn't get along in the beginning at all," she said.

"We have experienced many things together … That's what welded us together," Zelos replied. He couldn't explain it any better. The last days he had grown fond of the boy. "What about you? You take care of these two like a mother."

"Hmm … Yes … I don't know … I just feel bonded to those two … I don't know if it would be the same with any child …" Sheena said.

Lilly moved a little bit in her arms and Sheena remembered that she had wanted to bring the little baby to bed. After she had lain Lilly in her bed she hunkered over it and watched Lilly for a while. Zelos walked towards her.

"Sheena … What will we do … if both of them are gone?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well … I will miss something … I don't want to think of the day when Sheila comes and picks them up … It would create a similar big hole in my heart like the loss of my house …"

Sheena leaned against him. "Oh, Zelos … You will have to prepare for that."

"Yeah …" Zelos replied while glancing one more time sadly at Ashton and Lilly. "We should go to bed now as well."

Sheena nodded and both of them left the room.

:::

Retisa had been in her room the whole time and had only unlocked the door to get the food which was standing in front of her door. The voice in her head she had heard had made her contemplative. To whom did it belong? And why did it have such a great influence on her?

These thoughts had controlled her mind the last days but she just didn't find any answers. If there had been at least somebody she could've talked to … But she was alone. Entirely alone. She had been always alone even if there had been always somebody in her proximity. Nobody had ever really cared about her.

She was with the Chorior as long as she could think. She had never gotten to know her parents. And for the leader she had always just been the person who could awaken the Tainted Child and protect them. So because Retisa never had had anybody who had shown a little bit affection to her she had become an uncommunicative and introverted person. She had no friends and she didn't really know why she should have any. Until now she didn't have any troubles with not having friends.

Retisa realized that it was useless to think any longer about the mysterious voice and so she finally left her room. In the main room she met Cozid, Nariko and Edoph who were once again discussing Edoph's singing skills.

The red haired woman saw Retisa first. "Are you better now, Retisa?"

It wasn't quite the right question but everybody knew that it was better to not ask Retisa what she had done the whole time in her room.

The quiet girl nodded.

"Ahh, Retisa! Don't you want to sing a little song with me now that you're here?" Edoph asked enthusiastically but the next second Cozid and Nariko were throwing several objects at his head.

"Someday I will shut your mouth, Edoph, I swear!" Cozid exclaimed.

"How many times have you sworn that already? Since our childhood?" Edoph asked while rubbing his head. "And you still didn't do it once."

"If you insist so much on it I will do it sooner rather than later!"

"No, thank you," Edoph said.

"Stop it already. We have more important things to discuss," Nariko remarked.

"Yeeeah, the new album of the Scissor Sisters for example!" Edoph replied while beaming with joy. (I don't know if they have a new album but that doesn't matter xD Edoph's just a fan of them. ^^ I just thought that it would fit him … But I like them as well, some of their songs are really nice ^^)

An artery popped out on Nariko's forehead. "Edoph …" Her voice was sounding so dangerous that the blonde haired immediately shut up.

Retisa looked at the three in silence. They were the only ones who cared at least a little bit about her. If they had been as long with the Chorior as Retisa she would've probably developed differently but the three had joined only about a year ago.

Edoph finally wanted to start singing again whereupon Nariko choke him. Cozid was standing next to them and couldn't decide if he should prevent Nariko from strangling the terrible singer or if he should just watch her.

Retisa was still standing silently close to them. Friends … No, she didn't need any.

(Don't worry, Nariko didn't really strangle Edoph xD But almost xDD)

:::

The next day Zelos was musingly sitting at the river in Mizuho. He was looking at something in his hand. Was the time already ripe for it? Or should he wait a little bit longer? But on the other hand … He couldn't wait any longer.

"What is that?" suddenly someone asked him and with shock he let the object fall into the river.

"Oh no!" Zelos exclaimed panic while watching the river taking the object with it. Without hesitating he jumped into the river and followed his little treasure. But he just couldn't reach it. As soon as he reached out for it the little object swam into another direction and Zelos grasped at nothing.

Ashton watched him frowning while wondering what object it was that had fallen into the river. It seemed very important to Zelos. The next moment he realized that Voax was jumping into the water as well and following Zelos.

"Voax, come back!" Ashton exclaimed but the puppy didn't listen to him. He glanced at the water with a little hesitation. Although Zelos had taught him how to swim a few days ago he still wasn't very keen to have to swim again; especially after his experience in the room full of water. But Voax was still a puppy and who knew if the current didn't get stronger somewhere?

So Ashton jumped into the river as well. At the beginning he was swallowing some water but then he was finally able to keep his head above water and so he followed Zelos and his dog.

Zelos had been finally able to catch the object and was now reaching a little isle. Soaking wet Zelos left the river and realized that he was on the Isle of Decision where Sheena had fought against Kuchinawa back then. Of course his Sheena hunny had won.

Zelos looked around although there wasn't much to see. Only a single tree was standing on the isle. (If I'm not wrong …) But something was strange … He had the feeling he was being watched.

The next moment he heard a barking. He saw Voax who was setting foot on the isle right now; Ashton followed him. But something quickly distracted him from them because he was hearing something coming from the tree. It sounded like a … startled wheeze. He wasn't sure though … But when Voax walked towards the tree and barked again he once more heard the noise; this time a little bit louder.

"Hey, you should come down now whoever you may be!" Zelos exclaimed.

"O-Only when you take this monster away!" a male voice came out of the treetop.

"Who is it?" Ashton asked while taking Voax in his arms.

"The 'monster' has been detained now," Zelos said amused. It was pretty strange that somebody called a puppy a monster.

The man jumped down from the tree and landed in front of Zelos and Ashton.

Now it was Zelos who was wheezing startled. "Kuchinawa!"

* * *

The place Sheila wanted to show Ashton had to be the clearing. ^^ It's amazing how this place grows more important with the time ... It wasn't planned at all but on the other hand most things in this story weren't planned. xD It's interesting how a story develops sometimes. ^^

Isn't it cute with Zelos and Ashton? ^^ It's really amazing how their relationship has changed, isn't it? ^^

Poor Retisa ... Surrounded by many people but still alone ... By the way, she will get to know her parents in the sequel. ^^ And she will open up a little bit as well.

Edoph xDD You just have to like him ^^

Well, has any of you a suspicion what this object that fell into the river could be? ^^

Hehehehe, yeah, Kuchinawa! xD You haven't anticipated that, have you? xD But don't worry, Kuchinawa doesn't want to fight. ^^ He has a reason why he's there. And, yeah, he still haven't forgiven Sheena but he will when time passes ... Although I think it won't be mentioned. o.O

Well ... So, what's the reason for Kuchinawa being there? What will happen at the festival in Luin? Will the Chorior attack?

To be continued ...


	30. Surprise!

It's Tuesday again! =)

By the way, there aren't too many chapters left ... But after this story I will post the sequel immediately, so you won't have to wait. =)

Thanks again for the reviews, I really appreciate them. ;)

Enjoy the chapter ^^

* * *

**Chapter 30: Surprise!  
**

"What are you doing here?" Zelos asked alarmed. Did Kuchinawa want to fight against Sheena once again? Or did he plan something perfidious? Did he maybe belong to the Chorior?

"Hey, don't be so hostile," Kuchinawa just said.

"Excuse me but you betrayed us after all! You worked together with that scheming pope! And you blamed Sheena for something which wasn't her fault!" Zelos replied angrily.

"Who is that?" Ashton asked but he was ignored by both men.

"She killed my parents and half of the village. She caused her own grandfather to fall into a coma. And now she's the Chief of Mizuho … She of all people …"

"Her grandfather woke up again and it was him who made her the chief!" Zelos argued.

"But my parents won't come back," Kuchinawa said.

"Geez, how long will you continue adjudging Sheena for that? She was a child back then! She didn't have any experiences with Summon Spirits and Volt really wasn't the best choice! And how does one get the idea to let a child do such a job anyway?" Zelos asked angrily.

"You don't have to ask me! It wasn't my decision!"

"Do you think it was Sheena's decision to let your parents be killed? She was just overextended with Volt!" Zelos exclaimed.

Nobody of them knew where this whole thing should lead but it just felt good to argue about it.

In the meantime, Ashton had sat down on a rock and watched the two frowningly. He didn't understand what they were arguing about and nobody was friendly enough to explain it to him. No, he was totally being ignored.

"Could you two please be more quiet? Half of the village can hear you," a voice suddenly said.

They turned around and saw Orochi who was stepping out of a little boat.

"Orochi, finally!" Kuchinawa complained.

Zelos looked from Orochi to Kuchinawa. "You planned this meeting?"

"Do you have something against it, Chosen?" Kuchinawa asked annoyed.

"We have been meeting here for months. He's my brother after all. Besides, he has joined the Renegades a short time ago," Orochi explained.

Zelos' eyes grew bigger. "HE? One of the Renegades?"

"Chosen, you get slowly on my nerves …" Kuchinawa said.

Before Zelos could answer anything Orochi intervened: "Kuchinawa, you said you have an important message?"

Orochi's brother nodded. "I'm afraid you won't like it. These Chorior have disappeared."

"What?" Zelos, Ashton and Orochi exclaimed at the same time.

"It looks as if they've fled. Unfortunately we don't know where their hideout is; we will have to wait until they make the next move. And that's why …" Kuchinawa sighed. "… I'm ordered to stay here … It looks like the Chorior are after you."

"Oh, great … That's going to be much fun …" Zelos murmured. He wasn't really happy about Kuchinawa staying in Mizuho. He didn't really trust him even if he was Orochi's brother. On the other hand Zelos could keep an eye on him now.

:::

In the meantime, Sheena was wondering where Zelos and Ashton were. It was lunchtime; today it was traditional Mizuhoan food.

But the two of them were nowhere to be found.

'_Where the hell are they? They couldn't have possibly left Mizuho, could they? Man, they know it's lunchtime … Geez …'_ she was thinking while putting her hands on her hip.

Finally she asked a little girl if she had seen the two.

"Uh-huh! The uncle was sitting at the river and was thinking about something and then the boy came and startled him. Something fell into the water and the uncle jumped into the river to get it back. Then the puppy jumped into the water as well and the boy followed them. So they all swam towards the Isle of Decision," the girl said.

"Thanks." Sheena got in one of the little boats which were tied to a footbridge and used it to get to the Isle of Decision where she found more than two people, however.

"Orochi, what … Kuchinawa!" Sheena exclaimed startled.

"Well, one after another everybody gets here …" Kuchinawa mumbled. "I will leave now. But I will always be nearby." The next moment he disappeared using a smoke bomb.

"What's going on?" Sheena asked confused. "What was Kuchinawa doing here?"

"He's working for the Renegades now. He will be nearby the next time in case the Chorior attack," Orochi explained.

"But the Chorior are …" Sheena began but she was interrupted by Zelos: "They've broken out."

"Oh …" was the only thing Sheena was able to reply.

"I think we will be safe for some time because they don't know where we are but none the less we should be careful," Zelos said.

Sheena nodded. "Lunch is ready …" she said after a while.

So the four of them went back to the village where Zelos and Ashton first of all changed their clothes so that they wouldn't catch a cold before entering Sheena's house where Igaguri and Tiga were already waiting impatiently.

"So we can finally eat," Sheena's grandfather said.

The food was really delicious but somehow nobody except Igaguri and Tiga was really eating.

Sheena's grandfather looked questioningly at Tiga but he just shrugged.

Finally Igaguri asked: "Well, what's wrong?"

"The Chorior have broken out …" Zelos explained. "And that means that we have to anticipate their attack any moment."

"Besides, Kuchinawa is now working for the Renegades and watches us in case the Chorior attack …" Sheena added.

Ashton was still silent. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard Igaguri's question.

"Hmm … For the time being you're safe in Mizuho. Don't worry too much about it, especially not today. You wanted to go to this festival in Luin, right?" Tiga asked.

Sheena nodded. "Yeah …"

"Very well. Forget your troubles for today and amuse yourself," Igaguri remarked smiling.

Zelos, Sheena and Ashton nodded and then stood up.

"I will play a little bit with Lilly," Sheena said before leaving the house.

"I will go for a walk with Voax and Zad …" Ashton announced before following Sheena.

"And what are you going to do, Zelos?" Igaguri asked the former Chosen.

"I … would like to talk to you in private if that's alright …"

Igaguri and Tiga looked shortly at each other, then Tiga left the room.

"What is it?" Igaguri wanted to know.

Zelos took a deep breath and tried to fight back his nervousness.

:::

"Miss, when are we heading to Luin?" Sebastian asked Sheena. He was making some sandwiches although there would be probably enough booths in Luin where one could buy something to eat.

"Hmm … Let's see … Maybe in three hours," Sheena answered vaguely. They only wanted to see the fireworks and these would of course begin in the evening. So they didn't want to leave too soon. Then Sheena saw that Sebastian had already made a whole basket full of sandwiches. "Sebastian, who's supposed to eat all of this?"

"Well …" Sebastian didn't really have an answer.

Sheena just sighed. What had the butler been thinking? "Alright, give some of the sandwiches to the habitants of Mizuho …"

After that Sheena left the room and walked into the children's room where she lifted Lilly out of her bed. The little baby's eyes were sparkling and suddenly Sheena forgot all of her troubles.

"We'll make it us comfortable outside, right?" Sheena asked happily while going outside with Lilly.

:::

Zelos was still sitting opposite of Igaguri and waiting for his answer. Nervously, Zelos was biting his lower lip.

Finally Igaguri sighed. "I was hoping so much that it would still take some time until this moment comes … But time passes faster than one thinks …"

"And … what does that mean?" Zelos asked hesitatingly.

"It's alright. I don't have anything against it. When do you want to ask her?"

"Tomorrow. I still have to make some preparations," Zelos said. He could've jumped for joy.

Igaguri nodded. "But don't get your hopes up too soon. Nothing's decided yet."

"I know. Maybe it's really too soon but … something within me tells me that the time has come."

"Yes, sometimes you should listen to your heart and not to your mind," Igaguri remarked smiling.

Zelos nodded and then left the house. Happily he walked towards Sheena and Lilly. "Isn't it a nice day?" he asked cheerfully.

"Why are you suddenly so happy?" Sheena asked surprised.

"Well … Maybe because I can spend such a nice day with the woman I love," he answered before kissing Sheena.

"It's all right with me," Sheena replied smilingly.

Ashton came back with Zadora and Voax and didn't seem to be depressed anymore as well. "It looks like Zad and Voax get along with each other pretty well."

"That's great," Zelos said.

Ashton was grinning widely.

Lilly was crawling over the meadow towards Voax and stared at him musingly for a while as if she had to decide what she should think of him. Voax, however, was sniffing curiously at her and then licked her face whereupon Lilly laughed while plumping on her bottom.

Zelos, Sheena and Ashton started laughing and the village people who saw them smiled because what they were seeing was a happy family …

Lilly turned away from Voax and was crawling back to Sheena again. Sheena stretched her arms out for Lilly and took her in her arms. "Come here, my dear."

Then something happened that took everyone's breath away. Lilly was speaking her first word! That alone was pretty surprising but even more amazing was the word itself and to whom she spoke it.

"Mommy!" Lilly said while looking at Sheena.

"W-What?" Sheena asked perplexed.

"She just called you 'mommy' …" Zelos said. He was as speechless as Sheena.

"Wow …" Ashton whispered.

"Mommy, Mommy," Lilly repeated happily.

Sheena was touched so much that she got teary-eyed while cuddling Lilly.

Although this whole scene was warming Zelos' heart he was still aware of the fact that Sheila would come the next day to get her children. And what would happen then? Then the family which had developed the last days would be torn apart again …

"Everything's ok, uncle Zel?" Ashton asked worriedly.

Zelos smiled and put his hand on Ashton's head. "Yeah, everything's fine."

* * *

Hehe, yeah, Kuchinawa's one of the Renegades now. ^^ And he won't fight against Sheena or something like that and he won't betray them ... So don't worry about him ^^

I think it's pretty clear what Zelos had to discuss with Igaguri ... xD

Sebastian - the sandwich-producing-machine. xDD I don't know why I let him make so many sandwiches anyway. xDD

Didn't I say there would be a much cuter scene? Well, here it is. ^^

So, there's still the question when the Chorior will attack ... It seems to be quiet now but that won't last long ... Hehehe ... xD

To be continued ...


	31. The most romantic fireworks

It's Tuesday again ^^

Thanks again for the reviews, they make me really happy. ^-^

Hehe, I think you'll like this chapter. ^^ It's funny, romantic and nice. =)

So, enjoy it. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 31: The most romantic fireworks  
**

They arrived in Luin early in the evening. They had left Lilly in Mizuho in Igaguri's care because she had seemed tired and the fireworks probably would've scared her. Ashton had left Voax behind as well because he was afraid of losing the little puppy in the crowd.

Because of the festival Luin looked almost like another city. There were everywhere booths at which one could either buy something to eat and drink, throw balls at a pyramid of cans or play some other games.

It was almost like in a little fair. You could also do little boat tours on the Sinoa Lake which was feeding the fountain.

"Ah, I want to go to this booth! Come on, Sebby, Oro!" Ashton exclaimed while pulling the two to a booth where sweets were sold.

"Sebby?" Zelos asked laughing. "I have to remember that nickname …" He shook his head grinning. "Sheena … What do you think about a little boat tour?"

"Sounds great."

So they entered one of the pedal boats.

"Tomorrow it's over …" Zelos murmured suddenly.

"What?" Sheena asked.

"Tomorrow the one week is over … and Sheila comes to get Ashton and Lilly …"

Sheena leaned against Zelos. "I'm sure you will see both of them sometime again …"

"But I will miss them … I would've never thought I would say that but I've really grown fond of them. Even Ashton although at the beginning he caused me nothing but trouble …"

"Zelos …" Sheena wanted to cheer him up somehow but she didn't really know how.

"Sheena … You won't leave me as well, will you?" Zelos asked depressed.

"No! Why should I do that?"

"Your condition …"

Sheena's facial expression softened and she stroked his cheek. "Zelos, this condition doesn't exist anymore. Do you think I've been together with you the last days only to banish you out of my life now? I love you, Zelos, I will never leave you."

Zelos smiled and took Sheena in his arms. "I love you so much …"

:::

"How's it going?" Ashton asked whispering.

He, Sebastian and Orochi had hidden themselves in the shrubbery at the shore of the lake and were watching Zelos and Sheena secretly.

"Looks good. They're kissing. But tell my, why are we doing this anyway?" Orochi asked sighing.

"You said earlier you would show me how to become a great spy. It's the perfect opportunity to practice it!" Ashton replied.

"And what am I doing here then? My tired old bones …" Sebastian complained.

"Psht! Be quiet, Sebby!" Ashton spit.

Suddenly they heard voices behind them.

"Hmm, you have to try this cotton candy, it's really delicio – Ahh!"

Somebody was tripping over Orochi's legs. He turned around and helped this person up.

"Colette, is everything alright?" suddenly someone asked while helping her up as well.

"Wait a minute, I know you two …" Orochi said.

"Orochi!" Lloyd and Colette exclaimed at the same time.

"You're friends of Sheena!" Orochi remembered.

Lloyd nodded. He saw Orochi, Sebastian and Ashton lying on the ground and asked: "What are you doing there?"

"Psht! We're spying on uncle Zel and aunt Sheen!" Ashton explained while looking to the lake again.

"Sheena and Zelos are here as well? We should say hello to them, don't you think so as well, Lloyd?" Colette asked smiling. "Hello Zelos, Sheenaaaaaaaaa!" Colette was pulled to the ground by Ashton.

:::

"I could swear I've heard Colette right now …" Sheena said.

"Hmm … It was probably your imagination …" Zelos replied.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

:::

"Quiet! We're spying after all!" Ashton whispered angrily.

"But why?" Lloyd asked quietly while lying down next to them.

"It's practice," Ashton replied.

"Who are you anyway?" Lloyd wanted to know.

"He's the son of Zelos' cousin," Orochi explained.

"Uh-huh, so that makes him … Zelos' uncle? No, wait, wait … Argh, that's too complicated for me …" Lloyd mumbled. "But what are Zelos and Sheena doing out there anyway? How did Zelos get Sheena to enter a boat with him?"

"They're together," Orochi explained.

"What?" Lloyd and Colette exclaimed at the same time whereupon Ashton kept their mouths shut.

"I say it only one last time: For Martel's sake be quiet!" the little boy complained.

:::

"I think I've heard Colette now as well … Together with Lloyd …" Zelos said.

"Maybe the both of them are here as well?" Sheena assumed.

Zelos shrugged. "Let's head back."

Sheena nodded.

"They're together? How come?" Lloyd asked unbelieving.

"They love each other, it's that simple," Ashton replied. When he looked to the lake again he cursed. "Great, now they're returning …"

"I'm sorry," Colette apologized.

"Well, it doesn't matter …" Ashton was grinning. "It wasn't that interesting anyway."

"Really …?" Sebastian asked. "Well, then we can stand up again … Ahh, my tired old bones …" He stood up slowly. "I'm too old for such things …"

Sheena and Zelos walked towards them now.

"Colette, Lloyd! So we weren't mistaken after all!" Sheena said happily.

"Hello you two!" Lloyd replied smiling.

"Good to see you," Colette said cheerfully.

"Are you here to see the fireworks as well?" Zelos asked.

Both of them nodded.

"It will take some time until it starts … Why don't we go eat something?" Sheena suggested and the others agreed.

They entered a little restaurant which was quite crowded but they still got a big table.

After they had made their orders Sheena looked around a bit and saw a person with long blonde hair and another one with short orange hair. "Well, if that aren't Zuzi and Bayne …"

Orochi laughed quietly. "That's not really what Bayne imagined I think."

"No, probably not …" Sheena agreed.

They were sitting in the proximity of the two ninja for which reason they could hear some things.

"Zuzi, you're doing that on purpose …" Bayne complained.

"What?" Zuzi asked while eating her noodles.

"This whole thing! Once again we're not alone … Here are so many people from Mizuho …"

Bayne was right; most of the people in the restaurant were from the little ninja village.

Zuzi just shrugged. "I couldn't know that. Besides, you wanted to eat something together with me and we're doing that right now. What else do you want?"

"I just imagined the whole thing differently …" Bayne sighed.

"Not my problem."

In the meantime the food for the friends was served as well and shortly after they had started eating Bayne and Zuzi were finished and left the restaurant.

Orochi was shortly thinking, then he whispered to Ashton: "Hey, if you still want to spy on somebody then we should follow those two … I would like to know how it goes one between them …"

Ashton nodded enthusiastically and so the two of them left the group without having eaten up.

"What is wrong with them?" Sheena asked while shaking her head.

"Who knows …" Zelos replied.

:::

Ashton and Orochi were following Zuzi and Bayne quietly. They always hid themselves in the shadows so that they wouldn't be seen.

"Look, there!" Zuzi exclaimed enthusiastically. "Let's go there!" She pulled Bayne to a booth where one could throw balls at a can pyramid. The prices were stuffed animals.

Bayne threw the balls at the cans and won a plush dog.

"Great!" Zuzi said while cuddling the plush dog happily.

Bayne just sighed whereupon Zuzi looked at him questioningly. "Something's wrong?"

"I just came to the conclusion that in the end you just needed somebody to come here with you … You could've come with anybody else, it didn't have to be me … I don't mean anything to you."

"That's not true! If I would've wanted to come with somebody else I would've asked another person! But I asked you because I wanted to come here with you. And it's not true either that you don't mean anything to me. Quite the contrary … You mean pretty much to me …" Zuzi admitted with a red face.

"Really?" Bayne asked while glancing at her.

Zuzi smiled and looked at him with her purple eyes. "You know, sometimes you're really cute. Come on, let's get going. We haven't seen everything yet." She took his hand and they walked on.

"What does that mean now?" Ashton asked Orochi quietly.

"Hmm … Good question … I think she likes him … But I'm not quite sure …" Orochi sighed. "Women are difficult. Remember that."

Ashton nodded. "Alright. Should we continue following them?"

"No … I think the fireworks will start soon. We should go back to the others."

When they arrived at the restaurant their friends were just leaving.

"There you are," Sheena said. "The fireworks will start soon."

"Yeeeeah! That will be definitely great!" Ashton exclaimed excitedly.

"Let's go to the bridge. I think we will have the best view there," Zelos said.

When they had arrived there they had to realize that they were not the only ones here. But they still found a good place. Soon after that the first firecrackers illuminated the sky. One time it shone blue, then red, green, yellow, every possible color.

"It's beautiful," Ashton said with sparkling eyes.

The others agreed. Sheena leaned against Zelos. He lay an arm around her and put his hand on Ashton's head.

Lloyd hesitatingly lay an arm around Colette as well. She smiled at him and nestled up against him.

Not far away were Zuzi and Bayne who were watching the fireworks as well. Bayne was taking glances at Zuzi every now and then; his heart was racing wildly as he made a decision.

"Zuzi …"

The blonde haired looked questioningly at him.

Bayne gathered all his courage and looked deep into her eyes. "I … I love you …"

At first Zuzi seemed a little bit surprised then she smiled and gave him a soft kiss on the mouth.

"I know," she whispered before kissing him again, this time a little bit more passionate. "Maybe I reciprocate your feelings?"

"Oh, what's that supposed to mean?" Bayne asked quietly while taking her in his arms. "Why do you women always have to be so complicated?"

Zuzi giggled. "That's the way we are …" She closed her eyes and enjoyed Bayne's warmth.

The fireworks still illuminated the sky for about an hour and later went down in history as 'The most romantic fireworks'.

* * *

Sebby xD I really like that nickname xD Ashton is really a nickname-fan, he gives every person a nickname xD Well, ok, almost every person. xD

Ok, now it's clear that Sheena won't leave Zelos, her condition doesn't exist anymore. (To axeloftheflame: Sorry, I thought I've already posted this chapter that's why I thought Sheena had already said this. xD)

Yeah, Lloyd's and Colette's only appearance. xD Well, they will play a bigger role in the sequel. ^^ (Everybody plays a bigger role in the sequel ... o.O)

Hehe, I like Zuzi and Bayne. ^^ (I think I've already said that ... Ah, doesn't matter xD) And they're together after this. ^^

Haa ... This was the last chapter the characters could relax ... The next chapter the Chorior will be back, hehe. xD But it's still a nice chapter ... ^^ You'll see. ^^

To be continued ...


	32. The Chorior strike back

We're slowly coming closer to the end ...

Thanks again for the reviews. =)

I hope you enjoy this chapter ^^

* * *

**Chapter 32: The Chorior strike back  
**

The next day Zelos actually didn't want to get up. Today Sheila would come … Why did the week have to go by that fast?

Zelos sighed and stood up. Even if he had a reason to rather stay in bed he had also a good reason to stand up. He had something to prepare for the evening.

Sheena was still sleeping, so he tried to be as quiet as possible and then left the house.

"Sir, it's unusual for you to be up that early," Sebastian remarked confused.

"I have something to do … If Sheena asks where I am tell her that I've gone for a walk."

"As you wish, sir," Sebastian answered.

"See you later … Sebby," Zelos replied grinning before leaving the house and starting his Rheaird.

He flew to Altamira. He had something to discuss with Regal …

:::

Ashton was already awake as well. Together with Orochi he did some throwing exercises with Shuriken and then practiced using a Kunai. It was fun and Ashton resolved to become a ninja when he was older.

"Hmm … If you really want to be a ninja you would've to start with the training now. It's easier to learn things at your age and that's important," Orochi said.

"Hmm … Maybe Mommy allows me to stay here …" Ashton murmured.

Sheena walked towards them. "Have you seen Zelos?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Ah, I'm supposed to tell you that the young master has … gone for a walk," Sebastian said while doing the laundry in the river.

"Ok …" Sheena remarked. "Well … I hope he'll come back soon … We don't know when Sheila comes after all."

"How is she supposed to know that you're here anyway?" Orochi asked.

"I sent somebody to Meltokio to tell her that," Sheena answered.

"And what if somebody of our enemies pretends to be Sheila and learns that way where you are?" Orochi wanted to know.

"It won't happen, Orochi," Sheena assured him. "Don't worry."

At this moment Zelos walked towards them. "Morning!" He gave Sheena a kiss and watched then Ashton and Orochi doing their exercises. "Sheena … Would you fly with me to Altamira this evening?" he asked her quietly.

"Sure. But why?"

Zelos shrugged. "Just because …"

:::

"Do you finally have a clue where the Chosen and his friends are?" the lord asked.

"No, milord," Cozid answered.

"I thought so … Maybe it would be the best to ask in Meltokio somebody where they are."

"Didn't we already do that?" Nariko asked.

"Yes. But I've heard that this morning a young man has appeared. He's standing in front of the burned down mansion and seems to wait for somebody. One of my men asked him who's he waiting for. He was so lost in thoughts that he actually gave an honest answer."

"And, who's he waiting for?" Edoph asked.

The lord waited a while with his answer. "For a woman named Sheila."

"Hah, he can wait until hell freezes over!" Cozid said.

The lord nodded. "Besides, he said that he doesn't even know how the woman looks like. We can take advantage of that. Nariko, you will pretend to be Sheila. That way we get to know where the Chosen is."

The young woman nodded. "Alright."

:::

Bayne was standing in front of the burned down mansion of the Chosen and dreaming the whole time of Zuzi while waiting for Sheila. He was pretty bored. Why did the Chief have to sent him of all people? And couldn't have Zuzi come with him at least? Somebody could've given him a description of this Sheila at any rate …

Suddenly a young woman with short red hair walked towards him and looked at the mansion.

"Excuse me, do you know … where the Chosen is? Or is he together with his mansion …?" she asked.

"He's fine. Are you Sheila?" Bayne wanted to know.

The woman nodded. "I wanted to get my children …"

Bayne looked at the woman for a while. She had red hair, so that militated in favor for her being the Chosen's cousin. But he still hesitated to tell her where her children were. Somehow she seemed familiar …

"I'm sorry, have we met somewhere before?" Bayne asked.

"No, I'm sure we have not. Could you please tell me where my children are?"

"Yeah, of course … They're in …" Suddenly Bayne remembered where he had seen the woman before. Back then, she had been standing in front of the mansion and was probably the arsonist! And so she probably belonged to the Chorior.

"I won't tell you anything! You're not Sheila!" Bayne exclaimed while throwing a Kunai at her.

She dodged cursing. "Damn it! Cozid!"

The blue haired came out of the shadow and hit Bayne in the neck whereupon he fell unconsciously to the ground.

"We have to take him with us. We can 'interrogate' him in the headquarters," Cozid said.

Nariko nodded. "We should leave some men here. Sometime somebody will definitely come to search for him."

The both Diaos disappeared together with the unconscious Bayne.

:::

They waited the whole day but Sheila just didn't come.

"That's strange …" Sheena said. "And you're sure that she wanted to come today, Zelos?"

"Well, today the week is over …" Zelos answered. He had mixed feelings. On the one hand he was glad about every second Ashton and Lilly were still here but on the other hand he was worried. Apart from that it wouldn't take too long until the sun would set and at that moment he wanted to be in Altamira … But what if Sheila appeared just while he was away and took her children with her? Then he couldn't really say goodbye to them …

"Zelos, maybe we shouldn't head to Altamira this evening," Sheena said.

"Yeah … But …" Zelos didn't really know what he should do.

"It's alright if you go," Ashton said. "If Mommy comes while you're away I will tell her to wait until you two are back again."

"You would do that?" Zelos asked.

The boy nodded.

"Alright …" Sheena sighed. "Although I don't really know what we are supposed to do in Altamira …" She went ahead.

Zelos wanted to follow her but Ashton stopped him.

"Good luck," he said.

"Luck? For what?" Zelos asked confused.

"Well, for your proposal," Ashton answered grinningly.

"How do you …?"

"I just guessed."

"Not really, right?" Zelos asked a little bit unbelieving.

"Well … I saw the black box," Ashton admitted.

Zelos smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you. I will need your luck."

Ashton shook his head. "I don't think so. She loves you, so she won't say no."

"One can never know … Women are incalculable …" Zelos sighed before going to the Rheairds as well.

Ashton just shrugged and followed Sheena's and Zelos' Rheairds with his eyes until he couldn't see them anymore.

:::

"So, where is the Chosen? Or even better: Where is the boy?" Cozid asked the prisoner.

Bayne was tied to a chair in a room with pale light. Four Chorior were surrounding him.

"I won't tell you anything," Bayne replied stubbornly.

Cozid hit him in the face. "Wrong answer."

"Maybe I can bring him with a little song to sing," Edoph said.

"No, please not, Edoph. Even though that would be the right torture I rather want to resort to that later," Cozid remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean? My singing, torture?" Edoph asked offended.

"You are some strange birds … And you're supposed to be dangerous?" Bayne asked laughing.

"Be careful about what you say. You are the prisoner here after all and it won't change that fast unless you tell us where the boy is," Cozid said threateningly.

"I rather die!" Bayne said before spitting on him.

Cozid looked angrily at Bayne. "Retisa."

The little girl nodded and summoned darkness which enveloped Bayne.

One could hear screams but what the darkness actually did to him nobody knew. When the darkness disappeared again Bayne was sitting limply on the chair. He whispered one word: "Zuzi …"

:::

"Lord Orochi? Bayne is probably bored to death … I would like to go to him," Zuzi said.

"Alright, go to him … And then come back with him to Mizuho. I don't think that this Sheila will still come today," Orochi said.

Zuzi nodded and disappeared.

"Kuchinawa?" Orochi asked and the next moment his brother appeared out of thin air.

"You should follow her … I have somehow a bad feeling …"

Kuchinawa nodded and disappeared as fast as he had appeared.

:::

Zelos led Sheena to the beach of Altamira.

"But it is closed at the evening!" Sheena objected.

"Not today," Zelos said smiling.

They climbed down the stairs to the beach and saw a table which was laid for two persons.

Zelos pulled back one of the chairs and invited Sheena to sit down. After that he sat down as well and a minute later a waiter came with food and a bottle wine.

"Did you initiate this, Zelos?" Sheena asked.

The red haired nodded.

"Wow … It's such a nice view …" Sheena remarked while watching the sea in which the sun seemed to disappear.

While they were eating Sheena asked: "Why do you do this whole thing?"

"What?"

"Well, this."

Zelos didn't really know what to say so he just said: "You will see."

"Okay …"

After dinner Zelos stood up and took Sheena's hand. They started walking along the empty beach. Then Zelos stopped and took a deep breath. He pulled out the black box and smiled at Sheena. After that he knelt down and now at the latest Sheena had to have a clue what was happening.

"Sheena, since the moment I saw you for the first time I was under your spell. Maybe you haven't realized it but I always just wanted to get near to you. I flirted with other women to make you jealous but they never meant anything to me. You're the only one who matters to me. I love you, Sheena. Only with you I can imagine a future and that's why I want to ask you if you want to become my wife." He opened the small black box which he was holding in his hands and a silver ring with a little opal shining in different colors appeared.

At this moment Zelos realized that he had used the same words as in his dream and came to the conclusion that it must have been a vision. But unfortunately he had never gotten to know what Sheena answered him. So it was no surprise that he was pretty nervous.

But the only thing Sheena said was: "Holy Martel …"

* * *

So, the final day of the week has begun ... Hehehe xD

For those of you who don't know this already: Shuriken and Kunai are ninja weapons. But I think at a time where Naruto almost belongs to general knowledge everybody knows this. xD

Well, I said in the last chapter that the Chorior would appear again in this chapter, hehe. xD So, yeah, Nariko impersonates Sheila and kidnaps Bayne together with Cozid ... Poor Bayne.

Yeah, Zelos wants to propose to Sheena ^^ Some of you have already guessed it =) And isn't Ashton cute? =3

So, Zuzi wents to Meltokio to see after Bayne ... And Orochi sends Kuchinawa after her because he has a bad feeling. And I think you all know that this is a good decision although ... Well, you'll see. =p

It's one of the most cruel cliffhangers I've ever written. xDD Now you will have to wait until next Tuesday to see what Sheena says. I'm such a devil. xDD

To be continued ...


	33. An exhausting night

Here is the next chapter. =)

And thanks again for the reviews, you're great! ^^

Enjoy the chapter. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 33: An exhausting night  
**

Zuzi reached Meltokio and walked to the burned down mansion. But when she couldn't find Bayne anywhere she stopped frowningly. "Where did he go? Was it too boring for him?" she asked sighing. She walked around the ruins of the mansion and the next moment a cloth was pressed on her mouth. She tried to scream but the cloth drowned every sound. Slowly, she got tired and finally collapsed.

Kuchinawa had watched everything but when he wanted to do something the man had disappeared together with Zuzi.

"Damn it …" he cursed before heading back to Mizuho to tell his brother everything.

:::

Zelos wasn't sure how he was supposed to interpret Sheena's reaction so he started uttering some sentences. "I know that it's pretty early, Sheena, but … I also know that I don't want to wake up with anybody else than you. I want to experience the beautiful moments in life with you and I want to be there for you if you're feeling bad. I …"

Sheena interrupted him. "Zelos, wouldn't it be more appropriate to wait for my answer?"

"Yes, of course, you're right, I'm sorry," Zelos said quickly.

"Stand up, Zelos," Sheena demanded and when Zelos had stood up she continued speaking. "You're right, it is pretty early. We've been together only for a few days."

At this moment Zelos was pretty sure that she would turn down his proposal.

"But we've known each other for such a long time … One can say that we've waited long enough," Sheena continued.

"Does that mean you …?" Zelos asked.

"Yes, I want to become your wife," Sheena said.

Zelos exclaimed joyfully and spun Sheena around. She put her arms around his neck and laughed together with him.

:::

"Orochi! We have a problem!" Kuchinawa said. "Bayne wasn't at the mansion and Zuzi has been kidnapped!"

"What?" Orochi asked worriedly before hitting the wall with his fist. "Damn it … I knew it … Do you know where they've brought Zuzi?"

Kuchinawa shook his head. "The guy just disappeared with her before I could do anything."

"We can't do much then … Just wait … Sometime these Chorior will show up … They're not after Zuzi and Bayne after all," Orochi remarked.

"Who is it they're actually after anyway?" Kuchinawa asked.

"I don't kn … Wait … Back then, this Cozid wanted something from Ashton …" Orochi remembered.

"So they're after the boy?"

Orochi nodded.

"Should we bring him to another place?"

"Zelos and Sheena have to decide this. I'm afraid somebody will have to put an end to their romantic evening …" Orochi sighed and walked outside. His brother followed him.

"I will do that. Kuchinawa, you should contact Yuan."

Kuchinawa nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Orochi on the contrary started his Rheaird and flew to Altamira.

:::

"Sir, we've found this woman in front of the burned down mansion. She was apparently searching for our prisoner," a Chorior told Cozid.

Cozid looked at the woman for a while. "Hmm … She could be this Zuzi …"

"Maybe we can find out where the boy is with her help," Nariko said.

"Quite possible," Edoph remarked.

They brought the woman in the room where Bayne was still tied to the chair. He looked up and exclaimed immediately: "Zuzi! What did you do to her?"

"Hah, so she is this Zuzi! Today must be our lucky day," Cozid said satisfied while tying Zuzi to a chair as well. She began to wake up.

"Where … Where am I?" she asked.

"Zuzi! Are you alright?" Bayne asked worriedly.

"Bayne …? Where are we?"

"You don't have to know. Would one of you two be now so kind to tell us where the boy is?" Cozid wanted to know.

"We won't tell you anything!" Zuzi exclaimed determined.

"Okay … Well … Then we have to use some other methods," Nariko said before holding a knife at Zuzi's throat.

"What do you say now, Mister I-won't-tell-anything?" Cozid asked while looking at Bayne. "Would you put the life of this woman on the line only to protect the boy?"

Bayne looked agonized at Zuzi. He would never allow for her to be harmed.

Zuzi knew that he was ready to reveal Ashton's location to save her life. "Don't do it, Bayne! Who knows what they want to do with the boy!"

"I have no other choice, Zuzi … I'm sorry … He's in Mizuho …"

Nariko put the knife away. "Finally."

"Hmm … Mizuho, we could've thought about that …" Cozid mumbled.

"Why?" Edoph asked.

"Back then in the mansion of the Chosen … some ninja appeared and foiled my plans … And one of them said they would never forgive us for attacking their chief … I think he was talking about the black haired woman who seems to be a friend of the Chosen," Cozid explained.

"What will we do with these two now?" Nariko asked. "Should we kill them?"

Cozid thought about it. "No … Let's bring them to a isolated place. When they reach Mizuho we will already have caught the boy."

:::

Orochi found Zelos and Sheena laughing at the beach.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you but I have bad news," the ninja said.

"What's wrong?" Sheena asked worriedly.

"Zuzi and Bayne have been probably kidnapped by the Chorior."

"What? Damn it!" Sheena cursed.

"It wouldn't have been that bad if only one of them had been kidnapped because then none of them would've revealed your location but now … the Chorior can squeeze them pretty good. It's not safe in Mizuho anymore," Orochi said.

"Then we should bring Ashton to another place …" Zelos remarked.

Orochi nodded. "That would be the best."

"But where? To Regal again?" Sheena asked.

Zelos nodded and then sighed. "I've hoped the Chorior would let us alone for a while …"

"It was only a matter of time until something like that would happen," Orochi said before starting his Rheaird.

Sheena and Zelos followed him.

"I should've listened to you, Orochi … I shouldn't have sent Bayne to Meltokio …" Sheena said conscience-stricken.

"They would've found us sometime anyway, Sheena. It's not your fault," Orochi tried to cheer her up but it didn't really work.

They arrived at the little ninja village and immediately searched for Ashton. He was already lying in bed so that they had to wake him up.

"Ashton, wake up", Sheena said quietly.

"Hmm … What …? Has Mommy come?" Ashton asked tiredly.

"No, we have to bring you away from here, you're in danger," Zelos answered.

"What?" Ashton was immediately wide awake.

"The Chorior will probably arrive here soon. You have to leave quickly," Orochi explained.

Sheena was already dressing Ashton.

"No. I will stay here," Ashton said suddenly.

"Ashton, that's really not a discussing matter!" Zelos replied upset.

"I won't leave! The Chorior will find me anyway!" Ashton objected.

"Ashton, you will _not_ stay here! Even if I have to drag you from here to Altamira, you won't stay here!" Zelos exclaimed angrily.

Ashton glared at him. "I have Zad! He will protect me!"

"Even Zadora can die, Ashton! Damn it, why don't you understand that it's the best if we bring you to Altamira?" Zelos really had enough of arguing with Ashton right now.

Suddenly Orochi stood up abruptly. It was so quiet outside and he didn't like that. He walked outside while Ashton and Zelos were still arguing. Sheena, however, followed Orochi.

Zelos and Ashton suddenly realized that Orochi and Sheena had gone outside some minutes ago and still hadn't come back. So the two of them left the house as well.

In the whole village there were Chorior. They had overpowered the ninja; many were lying unconsciously on the ground, some of them maybe even dead.

Sheena and Orochi were under Nariko's and Edoph's thumbs; they were holding knives at their throats.

"Well, there he is!" Cozid said happily. "So, boy, give us the bracelet!"

"No!" Ashton exclaimed determined.

Cozid shook his head. "I'm afraid you have no other choice. Unless you're willing to accept the deaths of your friends …"

By now, Zelos was in no better situation than Sheena and Orochi, rather in a worse one. Retisa had let a dark aura appear around him and as much as he tried to free himself it didn't work.

"Their lives are in your hands boy. We could kill your friends within a second," Cozid said.

Ashton looked at Zelos, Sheena and Orochi and then gazed to the other ninja lying on the ground. He had no other choice …

He got the blue-silver coin out of his pocket and wanted to call Zadora when Cozid said: "Hey, don't call that strange tiger! Your mother did this as well back then! And I don't have to feel his claws once more!"

"Do you want to have the bracelet or not? I have to call Zad for that!" Ashton remarked.

Cozid looked at him indecisively for a while but then he nodded.

Ashton threw the coin in the air and exclaimed: "Holy beast, awaken!"

The coin fell to the ground and Zadora appeared. He hissed angrily at the Chorior but didn't move. Ashton sighed and got something out of the neck scarf which was tied around Zadora's neck. In reality it was a bag which looked like a neck scarf.

Ashton held the silver bracelet in his hand.

"Give it to me!" Cozid demanded.

"No. First you have to release my friends."

"How should I know that you won't run away with the bracelet if we have done that?" Cozid asked.

"Where should I run to? You'll find me anyway …" Ashton said.

"You're right," Cozid admitted and then gave the others a sign. Sheena, Orochi and Zelos came free and Ashton threw the bracelet to Cozid.

"Good. Retreat!"

The Chorior ran towards the Gaoracchia Forest and had soon disappeared.

Orochi immediately took care of the ninja lying on the ground while Sheena and Zelos ran worriedly to Ashton who was sitting on the ground and crying.

"I … I promised her to hide the bracelet very good …" Ashton sobbed.

"Whom?" Sheena asked softly.

"Mommy … She said I have to give it to the Earth Healer so that she can awaken the Nature Spirits …"

"Is it that bad if the Earth Healer doesn't get the bracelet?" Sheena wanted to know.

"Yes, it's pretty bad! It's twice as bad now! Without the bracelet the Earth Healer can't free the Nature Spirits and without the Nature Spirits the balance of the world can't be restored! Besides, the Chorior want to awaken evil creatures with it!" Ashton exclaimed upset.

"That's right, Cozid said something like that … Hmm … I wonder if this whole thing has something to do with this prophecy …" Zelos wondered.

"By now, I think everything that happens has something to do with the prophecy …" Sheena sighed.

"You should go to bed now," Orochi suddenly said.

"How are the others?" Sheena wanted to know.

Orochi turned around and looked at the ninja who were slowly sitting up. "They're fine. Nobody is dead or wounded badly."

"But we can't go to bed just like that!" Ashton objected.

"You don't have to be afraid. Some men will keep watch in case the Chorior come back … Although I doubt that because they now have what they wanted."

"What about Zuzi and Bayne? We don't have a clue if they're still imprisoned by the Chorior," Zelos said.

"That's right …" Orochi admitted. "But we can't do anything in the night anyway. We have to think about that tomorrow."

Zelos and Sheena nodded. They brought Ashton to bed although he didn't want to because he thought that he couldn't fall asleep anyway. He was barely lying under the blanket when he had already fallen asleep.

"We couldn't even tell anybody the good news yet," Zelos sighed.

"We can do that still tomorrow," Sheena said.

"You're right," Zelos remarked. "But I would like to scream it out loud to the whole world."

"It wouldn't be such a good idea in the middle of the night. Doesn't leave a good impression on the neighbors," Sheena replied smiling.

"I don't care about the neighbors," Zelos stated laughing before the two of them left the children's room to go to bed as well.

* * *

Yeah, now Zuzi's kidnapped as well ... And Bayne reveals Ashton's location to safe Zuzi ... He didn't really have a choice, did he?

Of course Sheena says yes. =) You won't have to hold your breaths any longer. xD

Poor Ashton ... He had no other choice than to give the bracelet to the Chorior ... But at least the Chorior won't attack them anymore. If I'm not mistaken this was the last appearance of the Chorior in this story. But they will be back in the sequel, hehehe ... xD

Next chapter will be really sad ... =( It's so sad you maybe have to cry ... But we'll see next Tuesday. ^^

To be continued ...


	34. Sheila's letter

Here's the next chapter. It's really sad so maybe you have to cry ... Get some tissues. xD

Thanks again for the reviews. =)

Well, I hope your ready. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 34: Sheila's letter  
**

Zuzi and Bayne didn't have a clue where they were. The Chorior had just left them in the middle of nowhere and the two had tried for hours to find something to orientate themselves.

"Shouldn't we have a break?" Bayne asked exhausted.

"We don't have time for breaks!" Zuzi said.

"I'm hungry …" Bayne mumbled while his stomach growled affirmatively.

"If we're lucky we reach a city or a village sometime soon … We just can hope for it, otherwise it doesn't look too good for us."

After a while they saw a forest in the far distant. They couldn't see any details because it was night but they thought that they were seeing a pale light coming from the forest.

When they entered it there wasn't a single doubt anymore that the light was coming out of the forest. The further they walked into the forest the stronger it got. Finally they reached a clearing in which an old man had started a campfire.

"Oh, hello. Do you want to warm yourselves at my fire? I have a delicious fish here as well; I wanted to roast it right now," the old man said.

"Oh, thank you!" Bayne exclaimed excitedly while immediately sitting down next to the man.

Zuzi, however, kept being suspicious. "Where was this glowing coming from which we've seen outside of the forest?"

"From the campfire," the man answered.

"That's impossible! The light of the campfire isn't so strong that one can see it outside of the forest!" Zuzi disagreed.

"Zuzi, don't be so suspicious and sit down," Bayne said.

"Maybe it was magic that brought you here?" The moment the man said the word 'magic' the fire burned up a little stronger.

"Who are you?" Zuzi asked quietly.

"You can call me Zolkit. I'm on my way to Ozette right now," he said while roasting the fish above the fire.

"Ozette? Could you take us with you? We have to get to Mizuho," Bayne remarked.

"Bayne!" Zuzi exclaimed upset. Who knew who this man was after all? He didn't seem to be that normal.

"Come on, Zuzi! Don't be that suspicious! What do we have to lose? Do you want to stay here and continue wandering around?"

"No, but …"

"I will take you with me. There's enough space for you in my boat. But now we should eat," the man said while taking the fish from the fire.

"But it can't be done yet!" Zuzi replied.

"Not? Hmm … But it looks great. Try it, young man," Zolkit asked Bayne.

He obeyed immediately although Zuzi wanted to warn him that the fish could be poisoned. "It tastes great! And it's really done. Come on, Zuzi, sit down already!"

Zuzi looked as though she wanted to reply something but then she only shook her head, sat down and took some of the fish. Finally her hunger had won over her mind and who cared about the fact that the fish shouldn't be done yet?

Zolkit left the fish to the two young people; supposedly he wasn't hungry.

After they had finished eating Zolkit said: "You should get some rest now. Tomorrow morning we will leave."

:::

Yuan was sitting musingly in his office when Teren entered.

"Lord Yuan, we know now who this woman is. We've found a photo on which we could recognize the surrounding. That way we found a neighbor who could identify her."

"And who is this woman?" Yuan asked.

Teren sighed and then told it Yuan who was silent after that for a moment.

"Go get Kuchinawa … I have a task for him …"

Teren nodded and left the room.

:::

"I'm really wondering when Sheila comes …" Sheena asked sighing.

"Hmm … I'm worried but … I'm glad about every minute Ashton and Lilly are still here," Zelos said. He had Lilly in his arms and played with her. She seemed to love his hair; she constantly pulled at it but Zelos endured it calmly.

The next moment Kuchinawa appeared in front of them without any warning whereupon Lilly started crying.

"Shh, don't be afraid, Lilly, the bad man will disappear again soon …" Zelos tried to calm her down. "What do you want here, Kuchinawa?"

"I'm afraid I don't have good news, Chosen. You're supposed to come to the Renegade Base in Triet."

"Why?" Zelos asked annoyed.

Kuchinawa just looked at him with an expressionless face. "Just do it." He disappeared again.

"Maybe Yuan has something to tell us? It could be about the Chorior," Sheena said.

"No … If it was about the Chorior Kuchinawa could've explained it as well. It has to be something different … Ashton, Sebastian! We're flying to the Renegade Base in Triet. Are you coming with us?"

Both of them nodded and shortly after that they flew in the direction of the desert.

"Wow! I've never been in a desert before!" Ashton exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, it's not that impressive …" Zelos sighed.

They entered the Renegade Base and walked to Yuan's office. On the way they met Teren.

"Ah … There you are …" He seemed somehow depressed.

"What's wrong?" Sheena wanted to know.

But Teren just shook his head and kept silent. Finally they reached Yuan's office.

Yuan nodded in their direction.

"Yuan, why did we have to come here?" Zelos asked.

Yuan sighed. "You know … A few days ago some of my men were coincidently in the Gaoracchia Forest and got lost. Finally they found a beautiful clearing."

"We know this clearing. But what …?" Zelos started.

"Please don't interrupt me. This clearing was really beautiful, it seemed almost sacred, my men said. But there was something that desecrated the clearing."

"And what? The last time we were there everything seemed normal …" Sheena said.

"It was …" Yuan took a deep breath. "… a dead body. And of course you didn't see anything; we've carried the corpse away and cleaned the clearing as good as possible. But still the place has been desecrated … Because the person has been murdered."

"And … who was this person?" Ashton asked. He had been having a bad feeling the whole time.

"It was a woman. Because of a photo we could find out where she has been living. Her neighbor told us some things about her." Yuan kept silent for a while. "Zelos … Regarding to the neighbor … the dead woman is Sheila, your cousin."

:::

Zuzi and Bayne arrived at Mizuho totally exhausted. Zolkit had said goodbye to them at the forking in the Gaoracchia Forest and had traveled further to Ozette.

The other ninja ran to them immediately and pestered them with questions. Somebody finally notified Orochi who hurried to come to them.

"How are you?" he asked worriedly.

"According to the circumstances quite well … We were fortunate to have met Zolkit, otherwise we would still be wandering around without having a clue where we are," Bayne said.

"You've met Zolkit?"

"You know him?" Zuzi asked.

"Yeah, he has helped me and Sheena mysteriously in Flanoir."

"Speaking of Sheena … Is everything alright? How's the boy? Were the Chorior already here?" Bayne wanted to know.

Orochi nodded. "Everybody's fine. The Chorior only wanted to have a bracelet the boy possessed and then disappeared again. Right now Zelos, Sheena, Ashton, Sebastian and Lilly are in the Renegade Base in Triet. Yuan has apparently something to tell them. But enough of this, you should get some rest now. As soon as they're back I will notify you."

Zuzi and Bayne nodded and then disappeared in their houses to get some sleep.

:::

"Good, now we have the bracelet …" the lord said satisfied.

"Milord, how are we supposed to awaken the Envoys of Death now?" Cozid asked.

"They've been banished a long time ago like the Nature Spirits. It was the same unknown might, that's why the bracelet can awaken both of them. Where the Envoys of Death have been exiled is unknown. You will have to search for them," the lord explained.

"Yes, milord," the four Diaos answered in unison.

"Cozid … I have still a question. Why didn't you kill the Chosen when you had the opportunity?"

"I thought that now that we have the bracelet it wouldn't be necessary anymore, milord," Cozid said.

"The bracelet can be stolen anytime. There's no guaranty that we will be able to prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy with it. The next time you see the Chosen … you'll kill him, understood?"

It was quiet for a minute, then Cozid replied: "Yes, milord."

:::

"T-That can't be true!" Zelos replied strenuously.

The news had shocked everybody. Tears were running down Ashton's cheeks, Sebastian seemed depressed, Sheena got teary-eyed, Lilly had started crying and Zelos was just speechless.

"But it is the truth. The neighbor has already identified her. Zelos … We found this with Sheila." Yuan gave him a letter which was addressed to Zelos.

Zelos opened it with shaking hands and began to read.

"_Zelos, by the time you read this I should be already dead. But I think I still owe you an explanation, that's why I write you this letter. I will tell you everything I know although I think it's not pretty much._

_It all began when I was still a child. I can only remember it darkly but I still know that my sister was born on a stormy day._

_I know what you're thinking right now, Zelos. It has always been said that I have no siblings. But there's one thing that is barely known. My parents who raised me … your aunt and her husband … they've adopted me. I can remember my real parents only dimly. And maybe it's better that way … Because shortly after my sister was born my father started acting strange. He started locking himself up in his room; when he came out of it he had dark circles around the eyes. One time I heard him when he was in his room._

_He asked himself: 'Can I go this far? Should I kill her?'_

_I didn't know who he meant but after a few days I found it out. He wanted to kill my sister. He held a knife above her little body and wanted to stab her but he hesitated. I've hidden myself in a shelf back then, unable to do something._

_Finally he said: 'The Earth Healer has to die … Even if it is my own daughter!'_

_This moment my mother came into the room and she was able to prevent him from killing my sister … Eventually she fled with us …_

_We fled for a year. We were constantly chased by strange men in grey cloaks … Someday we arrived at the Gaoracchia Forest where the men finally found us. My mother ordered me to escape together with a blue-silver tiger named Zadorateshimoboloki. I don't know for sure what this creature really is but … it has something to do with the clan my mother belonged to._

_Furthermore, my mother had given me a silver bracelet. She told me that it was destined for the Earth Healer, my sister, and that I had to protect it. Because it would do mischief if it fell into the wrong hands._

_In any case this was the day I saw my mother and my little sister for the last time … I'm pretty sure that my mother died that day but my sister still has to live. She's the Earth Healer after all._

_Much later I heard of the prophecy in which my sister's playing a great role. That's why I'm so certain that my sister is still alive. Because if she's not Elaros is already doomed._

_I've protected the bracelet for years but a few days ago some men in grey cloaks appeared … The Chorior, how they call themselves. They demanded the bracelet … Of course I didn't want to give it to them and that's why I fled together with Ashton and Lilly. I gave the bracelet to Ashton and brought my both children to you. I knew that the Chorior would assume that I have the bracelet and so I wanted to lure them away from you. But it looks like they've found and killed me …_

_I'm sorry that I didn't tell you in what danger you are but I thought it would the best to not make you uneasy …_

_That's the explanation … I still have a request though … Impudent of me, I know. After all the trouble I caused you I still have the guts to ask you for a favor … But it's really important. Zelos … I want you to find my sister. I want her to take care of Ashton and Lilly. Until then I would be glad to know them in your care …_

_I can't really help you with the search for my sister; I've searched for her many years without success. But I still remember her name … She's called Sheena. Please, Zelos, find her … And give her the letter which I've attached here._

_I'm sorry that I cause so much trouble to you … But at least I was right … After this one week … you will never see me again._

_I wish you the very best, Zelos._

_Sheila."_

By now, tears were running down Zelos' cheeks. Now that he had finished reading he threw the letter angrily to the ground.

"Damn it!" he yelled before leaving the room.

Sheena watched him worriedly and then picked up the letter. While she was reading it her eyes widened and at the end she let it fall to the ground. She buried her face in her palms and started crying. She had had a sister and she hadn't even get to know her. And she would never have the opportunity to get to know her.

Ashton picked up the letter now and read through it as well. Then he took the letter which was attached to the other letter and handed it to his aunt.

"I think it's for you … aunt Sheen …" he said.

One could've thought that he especially had to be depressed because of his mother's death but actually he had known it the moment he had fled with his mother and his sister to Meltokio. When his mother had left him with Zelos he had known that he had seen her for the last time. And to get over it he had tried to distract himself by angering Zelos.

Sheena took the letter sobbing and opened it slowly.

* * *

*sob* So ... What do you say? It was sad, wasn't it? Although I think some of you might have already suspected that Sheila's dead ... And now you know as well that Sheena and Sheila are sisters. ^^ So, Sheena is the Earth Healer and she will be very important for the prophecy ...

And Zuzi and Bayne are in Mizuho again, thanks to the mysterious Zolkit. Isn't he great? xD I love him 3

Ok, the Chorior had another appearance ... I've forgotten about it. xD But this was really their last appearance in this story, I'm sure about it ...

Well ... Next Tuesday you'll get to read the last chapter and the epilogue ... And the Saturday after that I'll post the prologue and the first chapter of the sequel. =) So you won't have to wait long for the sequel. ;)

To be continued ...


	35. Long goodbye

*sob* The last chapter ... It's a little bit sad as well ...

Thanks again for the reviews and enjoy the chapter. =)

* * *

**Chapter 35: Long goodbye  
**

Zelos had run angrily outside. He just couldn't believe that Sheila was dead. And this probably already for a few days …

Suddenly he remembered his nightmare in which a black haired woman was killed by several men. It had never been Sheena … but Sheila. Zelos now painfully realized that he could've saved Sheila if he had thought about the woman being Sheila only once.

"Damn it!" Zelos yelled while hitting the wall of the Renegade Base with his fist. "I could've saved her …"

Powerless, he set down on a rock and thought about everything. Things that had appeared incoherent to him before seemed to make sense suddenly. The voice he had heard in the room with water in Flanoir back then had belonged to Sheila. She had encouraged him to fight and had saved his life that way.

And now it wasn't strange anymore that Sheena had gotten along with Ashton and Lilly that well right from the beginning. After all, she didn't only look like Sheila she also was the children's aunt …

Zelos remembered as well what the fortune teller had said to him back then in Altamira.

"_She's in danger … in great danger … They're after the bracelet … They will kill her … and then they will continue searching … The boy … Protect the boy … A letter with an explanation … The truth will come to light … The lost sister must be found and the Nature Spirits have to be freed by her … The prophecy has to be fulfilled … The prophecy …"_

Her words had come true. And once again everything could be traced back to the damned prophecy …

:::

„_Dear Sheena!_

_I'm sorry we won't get to know other personally but if this letter reaches you then I'm really happy. I hope you've grown to be a strong young woman because I'm afraid your task will demand a great deal of you. As the Earth Healer you have to free the four Nature Spirits with the help of the bracelet which my son Ashton will give to you. It's very important so that the balance of the world can be restored. I'm just afraid that you will have to cope with this task alone._

_I want to write you so many thing, little sister, but I don't have much time. I have to anticipate every second for the Chorior to find me._

_I'm just glad that Zelos has found you after I have been unsuccessful all the years … I hope my request is not too impudent but I would wish for you to raise my children. You will definitely get along with them very well._

_In love,_

_your sister Sheila."_

Big tears had been dropping on the paper and smutting partly the ink while Sheena had been reading the letter.

Why? Why did she never have been allowed to get to know her sister? Why did she had so much bad luck in terms of her family? Her whole life there had been no trace of her family and now she got to know that she had a sister who was already dead, her mother wasn't living anymore either and her father wanted to kill her as a baby. The only family she still had were Ashton and Lilly … and Zelos and her grandfather of course.

She stood up, wiped away the tears and walked outside where she assumed Zelos. The others followed her.

Indeed, they found Zelos outside sitting on a rock.

"Zelos …" Sheena said.

"I could've saved her …" Zelos mumbled.

"Nonsense. What are you talking about?"

"Some days ago I've had a nightmare which haunted me … In this nightmare I saw a black haired woman who was killed by some men … Sheena, the whole time I thought this woman would be you but it was Sheila … If I had thought about that only once maybe I could've saved her …"

Sheena shook her head. "No, Zelos. You wouldn't have known where she was. Besides, you would've probably only seen it as a nightmare and not as a vision."

"Yuan … Do you know when she … has died?" Zelos asked.

"My men have found her circa a week ago," Yuan answered.

"Can we see her?" Sheena wanted to know.

Yuan nodded and walked back into the base. The others followed him. They entered a room in which a glass case was standing. In the glass case the dead Sheila was lying.

"This glass case is able to slow down the decay of the body. But nonetheless she should be buried soon," Yuan said.

Sheena ran her hand over the glass and gazed at her dead sister. She really resembled her. Sheila's hair was as black as hers, only a little bit longer and her skin was a little bit more tanned. Besides, she looked older.

"She had blue eyes …" Zelos remarked.

Sheena nodded and kept silent. They continued looking at Sheila for some time, then Sebastian said: "Sir, miss, we should head back to Mizuho."

"You're right, Sebastian," Zelos agreed.

They left the Renegade Base and flew back to the ninja village. As soon as they had arrived Orochi came towards them.

"Zuzi and Bayne are back, they …" Orochi noticed the depressed atmosphere. "Has something happened?"

They told him everything.

"I'm really sorry for you …" Orochi said. "Should I tell Zuzi and Bayne that you're back or should I rather wait with it?"

Sheena shook her head. "No, you should get them …"

The ninja nodded. Shortly after that he came back with Zuzi and Bayne.

"I'm glad you're alright …" Sheena stated relieved. "But how did you escape the Chorior?"

"Well, they let us free in the middle of nowhere. If Zolkit hadn't brought us here with his boat we would probably still wander around that area without having a clue where we are," Bayne answered.

"Zolkit again … Who is he really? He seems to appear every time somebody needs help …" Sheena murmured.

"Couldn't he have appeared to help Sheila then as well?" Zelos asked angrily.

"Zelos …" Sheena sighed. "We can't change anything about her death now …"

"I swear that the Chorior will pay for this! I will avenge Sheila's death and if it's the last thing I do!" Zelos exclaimed determined.

"Uncle Zel …" Ashton murmured.

Sheena suddenly remembered something. "I have to speak with grandfather …" She disappeared into the house of the chief. A short time later she came back with her grandfather.

"Come with us," Sheena invited the others.

Zelos, Ashton and Sebastian followed her without hesitating but Orochi, Zuzi and Bayne didn't know if they were also invited. But eventually they followed as well, after all they couldn't be sure that there still weren't any Chorior in the area.

They entered the Gaoracchia Forest.

"Where did you find me back then, grandfather?" Sheena asked Igaguri. "Lead us to the place."

Igaguri sighed. "I hope I still remember the way …"

They were walking some time through the Gaoracchia Forest because Igaguri often got lost.

Eventually they arrived at the beautiful clearing.

"Here. Here I have found you," Igaguri said.

"Here?" Sheena asked depressed.

Igaguri nodded. "To be more precise in here." Igaguri pointed to a hollow stump.

Zelos placed a hand on Sheena's shoulder. "We should bury Sheila here …"

Sheena nodded. "Yes … This place seems to always attract my family … Who knows if my mother hasn't died here as well …"

:::

The burial took place the next day. Around Sheila's grave they planted seven little saplings in a semicircle. Regarding Ashton seven had been Sheila's favorite number.

"We should give this clearing a name …" Zelos said.

Sheena nodded. "How about 'Sheila's Bosk'?"

"Sounds good," Ashton replied. "Mommy would have definitely liked it."

So it was decided. From now on this unusual beautiful clearing in the dark Gaoracchia Forest was known as 'Sheila's Bosk'.

Zelos, Sheena, Ashton, Lilly and Sebastian were still living in Mizuho for some time but the Renegades were working hard on rebuilding Zelos' mansion. Zelos and Sheena had announced their engagement but didn't have a concrete date for the wedding yet. The place had been already decided, however. Of course the wedding had to take place in Sheila's Bosk. This place had become very important to Sheena and Zelos and so they wanted to connect all important moments in their lives to this place.

:::

One day Zelos suddenly had an idea.

"Sheena!" he called while running out of the house. "Ashton, Sebastian! We have to go to Altamira!"

"What do you want in Altamira again?" Sheena asked sighing. "We've been already yesterday there to visit Regal …"

"I don't want to visit Regal … I've remembered something."

"Did you forget something? Then you can go alone as well," Ashton said.

"No, I didn't forget anything. Well, let's go!" Zelos was already sitting on his Rheaird.

The others followed finally his example and so they flew again to the summerlike city.

Confused, Sheena, Ashton and Sebastian let themselves be lead to the amusement park by Zelos.

"What do we want here?" Sheena asked puzzled.

"You will see … Ah, here it is."

They were standing in front of a little tent. Zelos entered it and gave the others a sign to follow him.

"Morgrary? Are you here?" Zelos asked and shortly after that the fortune teller came out of the rear part of the tent.

"Ah, I know you! Because of you I had this strange vision which I couldn't remember later," Morgrary said.

"Exactly. You said back then that you could establish contact with ghosts, right?" Zelos asked with sparkling eyes.

"Yes, I can do that … at least sometimes. It depends on how willing the ghosts are," Morgrary explained.

Zelos turned around to the others in excitement. "If we're lucky we can talk to Sheila!"

"Would that really be possible?" Sheena asked quietly.

Zelos turned around to the fortune teller again. "How does this whole ghost thing work?"

"Well … At least one close relative of the dead person has to be here. And then I need something that has been in the possession of the person for a long time," Morgrary explained.

"The thing with the relatives is no problem. Ashton is Sheila's son and Sheena is her sister. But an object …" Zelos couldn't really think of something.

"Ah, I have something!" Ashton said and then got Zadora's coin out of his pocket. "It has been in Mommy's possession for a long time."

Morgrary looked at the coin with a raised eyebrow and then nodded. "Very well. I can try it. But I can't guarantee anything." She closed her eyes, let her hands circle above the coin and mumbled incomprehensible words. Suddenly she straightened up; her eyes were wide open and then she collapsed.

"Morgrary?" Zelos asked.

The next moment the fortune teller sat up again but her eyes seemed to look through the group. Then she smiled.

"Very clever of you, Zelos. I wouldn't have thought that I get to talk with you again," Morgrary said but her voice definitely belonged to Sheila.

"It worked!" Zelos exclaimed excitedly.

"Mommy …" Ashton sobbed while hugging his mother or rather Morgrary. "I've lost the bracelet …"

"I know, Ashton," Sheila said while running her hand through his hair. "But you didn't have a choice. You had to give it away. And you still have time. The Chorior don't know where they can find the Envoys of Death."

"Speaking of the Chorior … You as a ghost certainly know where they are right now, right?," Zelos asked.

"Yes, I know it. But it's _because_ I'm a ghost that I mustn't tell you. I'm bound to certain laws. The only thing I can tell you is that the Chorior won't bother you anytime soon again," Sheila replied.

"But how am I supposed to fulfill my task now?" Sheena asked.

On Morgrary's face a smile appeared. "Sheena … I'm so glad to see you. You don't have to fulfill your task yet. You won't have to search for the bracelet and the Nature Spirits until the Guardian of the Prophecy introduces you to your role."

"The Guardian of the Prophecy? Who's that?" Zelos asked.

"Think about it for a while. Who was it who told Raine of the prophecy?"

"Kratos …" Sheena answered.

Morgrary nodded. "Wait for him. When the time has come he will come to you. I have to go now."

"W-Wait! You can't go yet!" Zelos stated.

"Zelos, I can't stay forever in this body. It won't be good for this poor woman. You have to accept that I'm dead, Zelos. It was my destiny to die for the prophecy," Sheila said. "And please don't try to summon me again. I won't come."

"But Sheila …" Zelos started.

Morgrary shook her head. "I wouldn't have thought it possible that you of all people would cling to me that much … You have to let go of me, Zelos."

"But I could've saved you …"

"No. My death was destined. You couldn't have changed anything at all," Sheila replied. "And now I will go …"

"Wait! Thank you for saving my life back then in Flanoir …" Zelos mumbled.

"Yes, you should be really grateful to me for that. And the next time you're in such a situation you hopefully think of fighting for your survival by yourself."

Zelos nodded.

"By the way … Nice grave you made me. I like it. So, now I really have to go. Farewell." Morgrary collapsed only to sit up again the next moment.

"Incredible! I couldn't summon a ghost that easily before," the fortune teller said amazed.

Sebastian only shook his head. "I'm too old for this world … Ghost summoning, unbelievable …"

"I wish we could've talked a little bit longer to Sheila …" Zelos said depressed.

Sheena hugged him. "It wasn't meant to be …"

"It only matters that we actually could speak with Mommy," Ashton remarked.

Zelos nodded. "We should head back to Mizuho."

"Yes," Sheena said. "Let's go home."

* * *

Well ... Everything makes sense now, right? ^^ The nightmare, the words of the fortune teller, the voice who animated Zelos to fight for his survival ...

The clearing in the Gaoracchia Forest really has much meaning in this story. It will be mentioned in the sequel as well some times. So remember that it's called 'Sheila's Bosk'. ^^

Yeah, the fortune teller really had been very useful. xD When she first appeared I would have never imagined that I would let her summon Sheila's ghost at the end. xD

So, this was the last chapter ... I'll upload the epilogue in a minute as well. =)

To be continued ... (in a minute xD)


	36. Epilogue: A happy family

Here's the epilogue, enjoy it. ;)

* * *

**Epilogue: A happy family  
**

_Eight months later …_

"Ashton! Where the hell is my sword?" Zelos yelled throughout the house.

"What sword?" Ashton asked innocently.

"You know exactly which sword I mean!"

Ashton grinned. "Go get it if you want to have it!" With the sword in his hands he ran out of the house in the garden.

Zelos ran down the stairs and followed the boy. "Ashton, give me back my sword, NOW!"

"Haha!" Ashton stuck his tongue out at Zelos.

Sheena just sighed. "Always the same …"

"Please mind the table, sir!" Sebastian warned when Zelos was running dangerously close past the table on which the lunch was.

Zelos had finally reached Ashton and threw him to the ground. "Caught you!"

"Wow, this time you only needed – believe it or not – two minutes and thirteen seconds to catch me. You've broken your own record," Ashton said laughing.

"Why are you doing that to me all the time?" Zelos asked sighing.

"Because it's fun," Ashton answered grinning.

"Hmm … Shall I show you what's really fun?" Zelos started tickling Ashton.

"Ah … Hahahaha! Stop it … Hahaha … Please!" Ashton pleaded laughing.

"Only if you don't take my sword away again!"

"I promise! Really!" Ashton said.

"Alright." Zelos stopped tickling Ashton and helped him up.

Sheena was standing in front of them now and shook her head. "Now look at you! Once again you're clothes are full of grassy plots and earth! I'm not your cleaning lady!"

"Correct, Sebastian has already taken over this job," Zelos joked while rubbing the earth from his clothes as good as possible. But he couldn't get rid of the grassy plots that easily of course.

"And he would be certainly glad if you two gave him less work," Sheena sighed. "Now go into the house and change your clothes!"

"Yes, ma'am," Zelos and Ashton replied in unison.

While Ashton ran into the house Zelos embraced Sheena. "Did I already tell you today that I love you?"

"Yes, about fifty times. But I don't have anything against hearing it some more times," Sheena answered grinning.

"I love you," Zelos said before kissing her. "You're the best wife one can have."

Sheena smiled. "And you're the best husband. And now go, you litterbug."

Zelos entered grinning the house and Sheena walked to Lilly who were playing in a little sandbox.

They were living in Meltokio again. Zelos' mansion had been rebuild and resembled the old mansion pretty much. Furthermore, the Renegades had planted a small garden so that the children had a place to play.

Four months ago Zelos and Sheena had married in Sheila's Bosk. Many guests had come, their old friends of the Regeneration Journey as well. Only Kratos, Raine and Genis had been missing because nobody knew where they were …

Sheena had stepped down as being the chief of Mizuho and had assigned this task to Orochi who was in her eyes a far better chief anyway.

Ever since Sheila had spoken to them through the fortune teller Morgrary Zelos had tried it many times again but as Sheila had said she had never come again. By now, Zelos had accepted it and now entirely enjoyed the family life which he had always wished for.

There had been many troubles in the beginning but as time had passed they had started becoming a family.

* * *

I like the last sentence. ^^ I just think it's a good last sentence ... It somehow makes me wanna cry ...

Well, yeah, a happy ending. =)

Ahh, you've gotta keep in mind that Orochi is the Chief of Mizuho now, otherwise it could confuse you in the sequel ...

Anyway, I'm really grateful for all the reviews and I thank the people who added this story to their favourites or alerts and who read this story. =) I hope it entertained you a little bit.

So, we will hopefully see/read us again on Saturday, when I'll upload the sequel. If I don't forget it you'll find here the link to the story. But you can also look at my profile on Saturday, then you'll be able to find the sequel as well. But to make sure you'll definitely find it here's the title: The Prophecy of Balance.

So as the title already says the sequel will be more about the prophecy. And it won't be only about Zelos, Sheena, Ashton, Lilly and so on ... In fact the main pairing will be another. But Zelos and Sheena still play a big role. =)

Well, you'll see. ^^ See you hopefully on Saturday then.

Greetings, Fina ^-^

**The End**

**EDIT: **Ok, I'm one day late. xD I forgot to post the link to the sequel yesterday but here it is: .net/s/6757610/1/The_Prophecy_of_Balance#

I would be glad if you read the sequel as well. =)


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